Climate change could severely affect bees, says study

With the global temperature changes causing unpredictability, there is a significant threat to wild bee communities.

Extreme weather events such as cold bursts and the unprecedented heatwaves witnessed in recent years could consistently push temperatures beyond the comfortable flight range for certain species of bumblebees.

For every 1C of warming the risk of catching a disease caused by a varroa mite jumps by 39 per cent. These mites prefer warmer climates and increased in number across several regional locations in the UK, predominately Norfolk, North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire areas.

The study also revealed that Shropshire, Herefordshire, Powys, and Worcestershire were hotspots for fatal bacterial honey bee disease, European Foulbrood, due to rising temperatures.

Flower retailer, Flying Flowers, is fighting to combat this by spreading national awareness of the plight of bees in the UK.

It says:

Why is protecting bees so important?

Bees being able to pollinate is crucial to protecting our ecosystem.

It’s not just honey that Bees stock our shelves with. One third of the food we eat is estimated to be dependent on insect and bee pollination.

As we near Christmas, this would mean the disappearance of a number of our festive favourites including turkey, pigs in blankets, potatoes and Christmas pudding.

How you can help.

1. Put up a bee hotel, this gives hibernating bees a place to get cost
2. Plant flowers that bee’s love - particularly ones that still bloom in the cooler months such as Abelia, Cosmos or Snowdrop varieties.
3. Avoid using synthetics in your garden, like pesticides and fertilisers
4. Make a bee bath so our fuzzy friends can drink and clean themselves