The Co-operative of high street fame is planning to upgrade the bee-roads of Britain – not for the car but for the humble honey bee.
The problem: This might seem like an odd cause to back considering most people’s encounters with a bee is while enjoying a picnic, but with the the honeybee and to a lesser degree the bumble bee in massive decline over the past 30 years, there is a serious risk to the countryside.
The majority of the wild-flowers and crops in Britain today rely on the honeybee to pollinate them and without the bee there would be no meadows, orchards and much colour in the countryside. Plus the impact on farming could be pretty devastating.
The plan: Initially, the co-operative has pledged £60,000 to create two corridors of wildflowers stretching north to south and east to west across Yorkshire. The land will be seeded with lesser knapweed, field scabious, birdsfoot trefoil and red clover which are particular favourites of the bee.
Public involvement: Creating wild-flower corridors will help a little, but what the bees really need are native flowers in people’s gardens up and down the country, which will in turn give them somewhere to collect nectar and thus fuel the population increase for the British countryside.
As part of this plan, the Sunday Mirror will be giving away packets of wild-flower seeds for gardeners to plan in their gardens, allotments and windowboxes this weekend.
More information at the Plan Bee web site.
