How to support bees this National Bee Day

National Bee Day takes place each summer on 20 May and provides a great opportunity to highlight the importance of bees and other important pollinators.

The British Bee Keepers Association highlights the urgent need to protect the pollinators responsible for around 75% of global food crop production.

Beyond agriculture, bees play a vital role in maintaining the health and diversity of natural ecosystems. They pollinate countless wildflowers and other plant species, ensuring the continuation of plant life that provides food and shelter for wildlife.

They also provide a range of valuable raw materials for humans to use, such as honey, beeswax and propolis, a resinous substance, which has antibacterial and antiviral properties and is used in traditional medicine.

How the Council is working with bee keepers on a local woodland site

In 2024, the Council started a pilot project to see if the Council's newly planted woodlands could be used for beekeeping. The project aimed to learn whether small scale honey production could provide a small income for woodland owners and help to boost pollinator numbers were wild bee populations were low. The project will also help improve the establishment of wildflower meadows in our new woodlands by increasing pollination and, as a result, creation of seeds to improve wildflower density.

In addition to this work, the Council has also introduced 180 wildflower meadows across the borough providing excellent foraging habitat for local bees.

You can read more about the beekeeping pilot on the link below:

Our woodlands: pilot beekeeping project success | Climate Emergency | Participate Now

You can also view a video below which shows local bee keeper, Peter, talking about re-homing swarms of bees on one of the Council's woodland sites and what we can all do to help them.

How to support bees

• Plant bee friendly plants in your garden - you could also replace sections of lawns with wildflower meadows. If you don’t have much space, plant bee-friendly blooms in window boxes and flowering pots. The Bee Keepers Association has some great blogs on planting for bees throughout the seasons on their website.
• Cut grass less often - let some patches of the garden grow wild.
• Provide them with a drink - create a small drinking pond with rocks in so they can land and have some water. Visit Friends of the Earth website for instructions.
• Do not disturb insect nests and hibernation spots – you could even build a bee hotel. The Wildlife Trust has instructions on its website.
• Go chemical-free in your garden – the effects of using pesticides is having a detrimental effect on bees, so go without. The Wildlife Trust has great guidance on gardening chemical free.

Report sightings of yellow-legged Asian hornets

The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) plea this World Bee Day 2025 is for public support to report the growing threat of yellow-legged Asian hornets (YLH).

Yellowed legged Asian hornet (The British Bee Keepers Association)

A single yellow-legged Asian hornet (YLH) nest can consume the equivalent of 90,000 honey bees every year? That’s roughly 11kg of insects — the weight of a large sack of potatoes.

The BBKA are urging people across the UK to learn how to recognise and report sightings of the yellow-legged Asian hornet. They suggest following three simple steps to help stop the spread: See It. Snap It. App It.

● See It – Look for a black-bodied hornet with an orange face, bright yellow ‘socks’ and a single orange band near the tail.

● Snap It – Take a clear photo, from a safe distance.

● App It – Report sightings using the Asian Hornet Watch app (Apple/Android) or at www.nonnativespecies.org

Once reported, the National Bee Unit (NBU) reviews the photo and if the ID is confirmed, trained teams are dispatched to track, locate and destroy nests before they can spread.

Find out more - 'Yellow Legged' Asian Hornet | British Beekeepers Association