Bees live in hives and give honey - this is part of the truth, because the honey bee is only one of approx. 470 species of bees inhabiting Poland!The vast majority of species of these insects are loners.They live close to us, for example in burrows in the ground, in the crevices of building walls or in straw thatches.
Bees are important to nature and to each of us. By collecting pollen and nectar, which is their food, they also "provide" one of the most important ecosystem services. They are responsible for the pollination of many plant species - including those that are food both for us and for many other animal species.
They also pollinate plants used for other purposes - ornamental, medicinal, cosmetic and textile. One of them is, for example, cotton - which means that thanks to the bees we can wear jeans or cotton T-shirts.
World Bee Day - we celebrate and help
Every year we know more and more about the world around us and we try to better understand the relationships in nature in order to be able to protect it. World Bee Day is a holiday that draws attention to unique insects, which, although small, do an extremely important job in the environment.There is still a lot of false information about these pollinators in public space.Therefore, it is worth expanding your knowledge about them and getting to know the fascinating world of these insects.
World Bee Day is also an occasion for important reflection on how each of us can help them. These useful insects deserve to be repaid for the riches we use every day.We can do it in many ways - the simplest of which is to entertain the bees in your garden or on your balcony.
Let's plant a million flowers for the bees
As many as 222 out of approximately 470 species of bees living in Poland are threatened with extinction.There are many reasons, and one of the main reasons is the lack of valuable and varied food - nectar and pollen found in some flowers.
- Although many flowers often bloom around, not all of them are a good source of food for bees - explains Katarzyna Dytrych, naturalist. - Fortunately, each of us can help bees in obtaining food. When choosing plants to be planted on a balcony or in the garden, let's choose those that contain enough nectar and pollen, such as lavender, echinacea or thyme.Let's also take care of the variety of flowers in the garden and on the balcony. The diet of bees, like ours, should be varied. The easiest way to ensure it is by planting various plant species.
The choice of bee-friendly species is really huge, and the flowers themselves are exceptionally beautiful, easy to adapt to different soil or sunlight.When planting, it is also worth paying attention to the fact that the selected species bloom at different times - so that the bees can gather food from spring to autumn.
The goal of the "We help bees with Kujawski" program is to plant one million plants for bees - flowers, shrubs and trees - within the next three years. A list of flowers rich in nectar and pollen is available at www.pomagamypszczolom.pl/baza-wiedzy.To join the goal, it is enough to report the flowers you have planted on the program's website.
Bees in a big city
About the program "We help bees with Kujawski"
The "We help bees with Kujawski" program has been organized for 9 years by ZT "Kruszwica" S.A.Its goal is to build awareness of the role of bees in nature and to activate them to real activities aimed at improving their quality of life.
As part of the program, there were created, among others, 70,000 bee-friendly places, and in the last two years, almost 250 local governments signed the Manifesto of the bee-friendly commune. In addition, an educational program was initiated, the Academy of Bees Friends, in which over 5,000 students took part in the last two editions alone, carrying out almost 30,000 nature tasks.Thanks to the program, the Great Bee Day takes place every year on August 8, which has become a permanent fixture in the calendar of the most important ecology holidays celebrated in Poland.
This year's 9th edition of the "With Kujawski we help bees" program begins the three-year goal of planting a million bee-friendly flowers. More information at www.pomagamypszczolom.pl.
