Tips for Helping Bees | Celebrate World Bee Day

• The first very important tip for helping bees is to plant more evergreen flowers in your garden. Lavender, alliums, buddleja, and catmint, for example, are all purple. That helps bees because they reportedly see purple more clearly than any other colour. Tubular-shaped flowers like foxgloves, snapdragons, and honeysuckle are also good for long-tongued bees like the garden bumblebee.

NB: It’s important to provide flowers throughout the year. You can find more information about flowers that are great sustenance for bees for every season here.

• Build a bee hotel. A bee hotel provides accommodation, refreshment, and even breakfast for your local bees. The simplest way, according to Friends of the Earth, is to stuff an old plastic bottle with twigs and stems.
• Choose organic fruit and veg. Organic produce helps keep bees safe from pesticides and other chemicals. The EU backing the near-total ban on neonicotinoids was an amazing victory for environmentalists — but buying organic also helps farmers reduce their overall use of pesticides.