Save our bees
Bees play a vital role of pollination in New Zealand agriculture and horticulture industries and in our home gardens.
Roughly one third of what we eat is pollinated by bees. Without bees we would not be able to grow a wide range of food including apples, pears, stone fruit, cucumbers, kiwifruit, berry fruit and even clover.
In New Zealand wild bee colonies can not exist, long term, because of varroa mite. Bees need our managed care for their survival but chemical resistant varroa strains are emerging around the globe, including New Zealand.
Colony Collapse Disorder is mysteriously killing bees world wide. In 2008 nearly half of Italy's 50 million bees died. In USA up to 50% of honey bees have died due to Colony Collapse Disorder.
What You Can Do to Protect Bees.
- Create a 'spray free' garden.
- Plant a bee friendly garden with nectar rich plants. Visit Trees for Bees for more details.
- Mow your lawn less. Bees love buttercups, dandelion and clover flowers.
- Provide a site for a beehive. Offer a corner of your garden to a local beekeeper.
- Become a beekeeper. You'll find good advice here "Be your own beekeeper"
Learn about bees
Save Our Bees Charitable Trust has been founded to conserve and protect New Zealand Honey Bees, to educate people about the importance of bees for New Zealand horticultural and agricultural industries and home gardens and to promote a more natural, easier and cheaper way of keeping bees so that more New Zealanders can be encouraged and supported in keeping bees in their backyards. Save Our Bees Charity also publishes educational material about bees and natural bee keeping methods and provides resources and contacts for backyard bee keepers. You can follow them on Facebook.
1-Aug-2012
In the Garden
