Early spring brings a ‘hungry gap’ for bees – how we can help

Findings from new research by the Universities of Oxford and Exeter shows that bees need flowers for food up to a month before we might actually notice the adults flying around. 

Bees need flowers blooming from March onward but they are currently faced with a “hungry gap”, mainly due to loss of habitat. This gap leads to fewer bee colonies surviving to the end of the summer, and not enough new queens being produced for the following year. 

The good news is that all endeavours to reintroduce plants that bloom very early in the spring can throw a lifeline to struggling bees.

A simple and practical way to do this is to enhance hedgerows with early blooming species - especially ground ivy, red dead-nettle, maple, cherry, hawthorn, and willow -  this can improve colony success rate from 35% to 100%.  Read the full article from The Conversation here.

 

What can we plant in our gardens to help bees throughout the spring?

Have a look at this great article from Beekeeper Central:
https://www.beekeepercentral.uk/blog/planting-for-bees-in-spring