How to take care of the environment and bees?

Caring for the environment, preserving our nature and reducing our consumption and pollution should be everyone’s objectives, as we all live on the same planet. These are some of the fundamentals that are being imposed on our society, which are fundamental. They are also the inheritance we have received from our ancestors, and which we must continue to pass on to our descendants. As a consequence, in this article we will give you 10 tips to take care of the planet, and especially of some insects that are very dear to us and that give us their precious honey, the bees.

Furthermore, we insist on the need for these measures to be taken by as many people as possible, as the sum of small embers make a bigger fire.

Summary: Ideas, some simpler and others more difficult, to take care of the environment and especially the bees. Also, for honey lovers, you have in our shop in Las Rozas de Madrid a fantastic selection of raw honeys: orange blossom, chestnut, lavender, arbutus, rosemary, thyme…

Other interesting articles: Honey is fattening: myth or reality. Where to buy quality raw honey?

1. 9 Tips for caring for the environment and bees

Dr. Ivor Davis, beekeeping specialist and former president of the British Beekeepers’ Association, suggests 9 things we can do to save bees:

1. Become a beekeeper:

There are some 25 000 beekeepers in Spain, of whom approximately 80% are amateur beekeepers. Beekeeping is not as difficult a trade as it may seem, and if you become a beekeeper, you will learn about this fascinating and beautiful world, and at the same time enjoy your own honey.

2. Helps protect swarms:

If at any time you find a swarm at home or in the countryside, contact the police immediately and they will contact a beekeeper in the area. In this way, the beekeeper will take care of the swarm and prevent it from dying. Meelliferous bees can no longer survive on their own by varroa attack.

Photo: Flowers of Madrid

3. Plant plants that provide pollen and nectar to bees

The natural space of bees has been modified with the expansion of cities, urbanizations and monocultures, leaving them without their sources of food. We can help them by planting plants and trees such as rosemary, thyme, lavender, chestnuts and oaks to provide their food; pollen, nectar and honeydew. That way we can share the territory with them. Rosemary honey

4. Buy some local honey:

Buying local or local honey will help bees living near you, improving pollination of fields, crops, environmental sustainability and the maintenance of the food chain.

5. Ask your government to fund research:

Bees are dying all over the world. I have been talking to the Spanish beekeepers who supply me with honey, pollen, propolis and royal jelly and this year 2016 has been one of the worst with losses of between 20 and 45%, an outrage.

If we demand that our government use its resources to investigate the causes that are leading to the extinction of bees, we can stop this catastrophe.

6. Find a place for the hives

If you have a field or place where a beehive can be installed, contact a beekeeper, you will help save the bees and improve the pollination of your garden or field.

7. Eliminate honey cans from other countries.

Bacteria or spores from other countries may be hidden in these foreign honey cans. These bacteria could attack them and weaken them further. The entry of mites, insects, exotic plants and animals continues to cause enormous damage to our native ecosystem. The varroa, the hive beetle, the Asian wasp are exotic species introduced by man and are causing so much damage to our bees.

8. Ask your city council to plant plants for the bees

Ask your local council to also grow plants to feed the bees, as we have indicated above: rosemary, thyme, lavender, broom, holm oaks, oaks, etc.

Video 1: Our beekeeper

9. Learn more about this fascinating insect:

Taking care of the environment is taking care of ourselves and giving future generations a future. Without a living nature, the survival of human beings cannot be maintained. The environment and nature provide us with food and health.

2. Why should we take care of the environment?

To care for the environment is to care for ourselves and to give a better future to the next generations. Without a living nature, human survival is not possible. The environment and nature provide us with food and health.

Therefore, caring for the environment is an obligation for all of us, ranging from small measures such as supporting local beekeepers by buying their honey to more far-reaching measures by governments.

a) Summary of how to care for the environment

Caring for the environment is in everyone’s hands, a small action taken by many is a big achievement for the whole planet. We need to be aware of the damage we are doing to nature and act accordingly.

3. Can solar energy save the bees?

A group of researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are conducting extensive research into using solar energy to help insects, including bees, thrive.

The idea is that by installing photovoltaic energy installations, these areas can be regenerated for the development of insects. The researchers have observed that of the 2,800 existing installations in the United States, the areas close to these installations are ideal places for the development of plants that provide food for pollinators. Therefore, these now unused spaces are good places for the cultivation of prairie grasses and wild plants.

Photo 4: Daisies from an olive grove

They also believe that these indigenous and pollinator-friendly crops will help the sustainability of solar energy. By increasing the number of pollinators, nearby crops will be better pollinated and neighbouring farmers will be grateful for this.

Also, the development of beekeeping in these areas will create more rural development with the production of honey and its sale.

Sources:

The Guardian newspaper : http://www.theguardian.com/ Take care our environment.