The summer skies are always a delight to see, especially when those rays shine down to help give life to the flowers and plants around us. Yet if we look that little bit closer in our beds and borders, we may notice a fair few stripey friends working tirelessly to bring us more than just an idyllic image to our gardens and public areas.
In celebration of World Bee Day 2025, we wanted to doff our caps to these vital insects and talk about their importance, while offering you some food-for-thought on how to keep these pollinators pollinating!
So Why May 20th?
Much like other significant dates on the calendar, World Bee Day’s date is honorific of one man in particular, Anton JanΕ‘a.
With his family owning over one hundred beehives, Anton’s intrigue was piqued at a very young age. As both he and his passion grew, he became a keeper himself. Over the years, he became incredibly well-respected in apiculture, as his observations lead him to write books, create innovative beehive designs and fuse his love of art with beekeeping, offering his take on the Slovenian tradition of painting hive panels, further popularising the medium.
Supported by the Republic of Slovenia, The Beekeepers Association of Slovenia wished to honour Anton’s legacy and works, alongside raising awareness about the importance of bees, giving the initiative to the United Nations to mark Anton’s birthday, May 20th, as World Bee Day.
More information can be found HERE.
What’s The Buzz?
For some, hearing a buzz in the air illicits fear, but before you tell these little ones to, err, buzz off, it’s important to understand just how crucial bees are to our ecosystem. To put it bluntly, without this team of furry friends, we simply wouldn’t be able to continue. The Woodland Trust‘s Charlotte Varela explains why bees provide such a solid backbone to environment via their website:
“Many of the UK’s arable crops benefit from bee pollination. While there are other methods of pollination, including by other animals and the wind, wild bees can pollinate on a much bigger and more efficient scale. […] Bees pollinate many of the crops used for animal feed. Without them, it would be harder to produce lots of our meat, egg and dairy products. […] Without bees (and thousands of other insect species that call the UK home), it wouldn’t be long before our ecosystem collapsed. Bees pollinate our wild trees and wild flowers, which then support other insects, which then support birds, bats, mammals and everything up the food chain with food and shelter.
It’s astonishing just how much we rely on bees for so many resources, yet sadly, due to deforestation, climate change and dozens of other contributing factors, bees are under threat more than ever. Even what many may feel is an innocent throwing of them around the garden, pesticides eradicate crucial food sources for dozens of pollinators. It’s imperitive that we’re more mindful than ever on what we can do to help.
Quite The Busy Bee
To keep bees and other pollinators thriving and surviving, getting your hands a little dirty may be more helpful than you first thought. Where able, planting for a longer season can be far more beneficial than just a pretty view. Prolonging your blooms can keep bees and the like working away; growing all year round is always ideal to appeal to all. Bees typically coming out of hibernation mid to late March, however some have been seen as early as February.
Whether in beds, tubs or pots, planting is always joyous, but doing this a little more mindfully for bees will tick many boxes.
Singular flowers are always a good option; their more open and sometimes flatter leaves not only offer great access to pollen, it can give a busy bee a seat whilst collecting nectar, or a moment of rest where they need it.
Purple florals are often synonymous with imagery for bees and there’s a reason for that. Whilst many flowers are vital to both of our well-beings, purple blooms are more visible for them, which is why these fuzzy cuties can often be found atop an allium or wiggling under a foxglove’s tubular ‘parasol’.
Wildflowers often prove fruitful, yet for more tips on the best plants for bees and other pollinators, sites such as Gardeners’ World, The British Bee Keeper’s Association and Friends Of The Earth all have fantastic tips and suggestions on when and what to plant. All of these factors can help provide a safe and flourishing environment for pollinators to continue their vital work.
Bee-ing Careful
There are times where our little winged friends have fallen victim to dehydration and exhaustion. If you see a sluggish bee and are concerned, a pick-me-up of sugar water could be the perfect remedy for them. Not to be seen as a typical food source, sugar water can provide bees a quick resolve to a stressful situation, especialy if there are no friendly plants around for them to take themselves to.
Reserved for a bee emergency, offering a tablespoon or small dish of two parts sugar to one parts water can give them the boost they need to continue their work. Where able and being safety concious of both yourself and the bee, guide them onto card or paper and put them onto a bee-friendly plant once they appear a little more hydrated, keeping the sugar water nearby. Doing so gets them back to relevant resources, giving them the option when revitalised to continue pollinating, or dip back into your kindness with said offered beverage. There’s no better feeling than watching a rejuvenated bee continue their work!
Honey, We’re Home
As we’re always up for some creative talk, another way you can help care for our garden pals is to build a bee hotel. Popping up more regularly than ever, and wonderfully outside my local Sainsbury’s no less, bee hotels are great residences for solitary bees to take shelter and hibernate in. The Woodland Trust have got some great tips on getting started on building your own HERE, yet remember to adhere to cleanliness as other pests are known to check-in uninvited!
Straight From The Hive
Bees aren’t just a work of wonder to us and the environment, they also find themselves sought-after in the crafting world, too! Thankfully for us all, they’re ever the popular mascot and where there’s a craft, there’s a busy bee.
These picks are bring us all the cheer and have us buzzing with inspiration! For fabric, we’re loving Rose & Hubble‘s Cotton Poplin Bees in Pale Blue, as well as the entirety of Dashwood‘s What’s The Buzz? collection! For needlecraft, Caterpillar Cross Stitch offers the perfect companion in their Bee Kind needle minder, perfect to pop on a new project. Bothy Threads have the perfect kit to remind us all of our fuzzy friends in Help The Bees, where Hawthorn Handmade have us crafting a badge of honour, with the cutest felt craft Bumblebee Brooch.
However our very own Woolly Worker Francesca has created something super special with her Forget Bee Not blanket. Using Yarnsmiths Create Aran and Pebble Haze DK, Francesca’s bee-utiful design for babies not only offers comfort and tactile components, she’s also reminding us to care for all creatures great and small.
Time To Buzz Off…
We’re calling time on the bee puns for this year! Thanks for joining our celebrations of a small-but-mighty being. Perhaps you’ll see a few on your next outing; visiting local parks and gardens are sure to have flowers occupied by some busy workers! As we notice these little wonders, let’s all remember to take care of them as they continue to care for us π
Catch you next time! π