Monday 20th May is World Bee Day, a day which was established back in 2018 and created to recognise the very important role these little workers play in the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem. Here at Bents we are celebrating World Bee Day with a number new additions to the Centre. We are delighted to welcome two new local beekeepers to our Centre; Tom Timperley from Hive and Honey and Greg Howard from Greg’s Busy Bees.
Once fully installed there will be up to 27 new hives located on our site, which together will have the potential to home over approximately 1.5 million honeybees. All of these bees will be able to feed and benefit from our large variety of different plants and in turn we will benefit by increased pollination giving better yields to our customers.
Our new arrivals will also make lots of delicious, local honey, some of which we are proud to be stocking in our Food Hall. Our first delicious delivery of honey from Hive and Honey will be in our Food Hall from Monday 27th May.
Tom will be providing us with his full range of local honey: Summer, Creamed Honey, Artisan-infused Raw Honey & Ginger, Raw Chilli Honey, and Hive and Honey’s speciality Hand-roasted Walnuts in Honey. When harvested, all the honey produced from the hives at Bents will be sold exclusively in our Food Hall.
Worldwide Impact
By their very nature, bees are busy creatures. Busy with important jobs that help make it possible for us to enjoy our favourite foods. However, their numbers are in worldwide decline and a dip in their numbers could not only impact on our environment but also our food supplies as it is estimated that pollination contributes to one third of the world’s agriculture crop production.
Bees are essential pollinators, carrying pollen from one plant to another, fertilising and allowing it to grow and produce fruit. Habitat loss, intensive farming, chemicals, pollutants and diseases are all combining to put all bees under serious threat. But we can do something to help; there are things we can all do to help these important little workers.
How Everyone Can Help
One of the easiest ways to help is to choose bee friendly plants for your garden. Not only do they offer bright and colourful decoration for your beds, but their flamboyant flowers send out a bold visual message for bees and other pollinating insects. Bees particularly love open flowers or bell flowers which provide easy access for a rich banquet of pollen and nectar. Sunflowers, dahlias and marigolds are all great choices. They are also attracted to the colour purple so think lavender and buddleia, as well as fruit and vegetables such as strawberries and raspberries.
Just ask any of our plant are experts who will help you choose the perfect choices for your garden. And keep a look out for our range of insect hotels and bee houses, another great way to encourage these important little visitors into your garden.