Recently there has been a huge
reduction in insect numbers in Ireland, including those that
specialise in visiting garden flowers. Bees, butterflies, hover flies
and moths are all at risk with many varieties already extinct.
It is thought that the huge reduction
in the amounts and varieties of native wild flowers in the countryside has had a huge effect with both a loss of foods (pollen
and nectar) and the medicinal benefits of a diverse range of feeds
has had a catastrophic effect together with the widespread use of
pesticides. Gardens have now become very important in many insects
lives.
The majority of plants require insects
to pollinate them to produce seeds and fruits. Without the
pollinators many of our fruits and vegtables would disappear. Plums,
apples, strawberries, blackberries, tomatoes, cucumbers and much more of our local produce depends on these insects. These insects are also
vital in the pollination of our remaining wildflowers, many garden
flowers (eg lupins, delphiniums, etc) and many ornamental trees and
shrubs(eg Buddleia). EU research has it that insect pollinators are
worth €153 billion a year, with ¾ of the worlds crops dependent on
them. The complete loss of insect pollinators, particularly that of
honey bees and wild bees which are the main crop pollinators, would
not lead to the catastrophic disappearance of agriculture throughout
the world, but would result in substantial economic losses and
greatly increased food prices for the consumer. Pollinators,
particularly bees, are in decline around the world. In some
agricultural areas, farmers already have to import bees to ensure
their crops are pollinated.
Flowers provide two food sources to to
these insects with nectar providing carbohydrates and pollen
providing both proteins and fats. These provide the full nutritional
requirements for bees and many other insects. Some insects will
require some different foods, especially when in the larval form and
many of the larvae will feed on aphids such as green fly and so will
help protect your other flowers.
To attract and support these insects we
need to provide them with a variety of flowers stretching from early
spring to late autumn. Many bedding plants that are sold are
completely useless to insects as they produce no nectar or pollen or
they are doubles (many petals hiding the nectar and pollen producing
regions of the plants). - Always choose nectar producing single
flowers.
Many doubles, such as the Pompom Dahlia below, produce no nectar or it is impossible for many insects to get at it. Many plants in the garden centres have a bee friendly motif
on them if they are friendly to insect life. - Never use pesticides when the garden is
in flower.
- Try and develop a patch of your garden
into a wildflower garden. The easy but slower way to do this is to
mow the ground in April and leave it
until September when you
mow it
again and
leave the grass there for a week
and shake it to loosen all
the seeds before removing it.This is the
easiest way to do a
wildflower garden but could take 3 years to get properly established.
You could, if you wished to speed up the process, do a seed harvest
on local wildflowers a couple of time during the year to harvest
seeds from flowers that appear at different stages during the year,
and scarify the ground before spreading the seeds. Wildflower seed
mixes available in the garden centres usually contain a large number
of non native
flowers
and preferably
are not to be used.
- Bees can be encouraged into your garden
by the building of a bee hotel. These can be purchased in many garden
centres or can easily be built by drilling some different sized holes
in a block of wood, or use some hollow stems of plants. Solitary bees
are usually much smaller than bumble bees so you only need holes 3mm
to 10mm in the wood.
To build a simple bee hotel Need A terracotta plant pot (9 – 15cm in
size) Modelling clay Plastic straws or bamboo canes String
What to do
Cut the straws or bamboo canes to a length that fits the
depth of your pot. Tie the bundle of straws or canes together with a piece of
string. Place some modelling clay in the bottom of the pot and stick
the bundle of straws or canes in to the clay.
Place the pot horizontally in your garden in a quiet place
for the bees to move in.
Some Bee Hotels

Irish Pollinator Initiative - http://pollinators.biodiversityireland.ie/
|