At HOME we’re proud to have 50,000 bees living on our roof, doing crucial work to support biodiversity in the city centre. But there are plenty of ways that you can encourage bees to love your home too – here are our top ten tips for how to help protect our pollinators:
- Plant bee-friendly plants such as primrose, buddleia, and marigolds, and consider letting a corner of your garden run wild, or sow it with wildflower seeds.
- Make sure there are lots of different-shaped flowers in your gardens, as different bees have different length tongues!
- Include some shrubs where bees can make their nests – they like to build in cracks in the bark.
- Old bird boxes, upturned plant pots or old teapots also provide great nesting sites for bees.
- Avoid pesticides which will kill bees and other friendly insects such as ladybirds.
- If you only have a small garden you can use climbing plants such as jasmine or honeysuckle to create vertical displays that bees will love.
- If you see a tired bee, mix granulated sugar mixed with water in a teaspoon and let it have a sip to regain its strength. Only use granulated sugar, as the processing it goes through makes it easy for bees to use.
- Give bees shelter by letting grass grow longer – this will provide a place for them to rest away from any predators.
- Try having a flowering lawn, including plants like clover or thyme – not only will it help bees, it will look and smell beautiful!
- Use peat-free compost which doesn’t damage threatened wildlife habitats.
Our sustainability programme is supported by Shire Leasing.
