The reasons a familiar insect is declining in numbers

According to reports, long winters and inclement weather have had a significant impact on numbers of bees, prompting calls for gardeners to take action.

Last year’s annual survey by the British Beekeepers Association indicated an increase in losses of honey bees, and the organisation is concerned that losses may be even greater this year if the cold weather continues.

Bill Cadmore, training officer for Bradford Beekeepers Association and chairman of Yorkshire Beekeepers Association, says bee stocks in Bradford are the lowest they have been since people started keeping bees.

“The decline in bees is due to a combination of factors, and the major thing has been the very poor weather,” explains Bill.

The use of pesticides on crops is also thought to be contributing to the dwindling bee population, but the Government has warned that an EU ban on pesticides believed to kill bees would mean ‘significant costs’ for British farmers.

The European Commission is going ahead with the ban for two years after a second failure of EU countries to reach agreement. But the UK, which opposed the ban, still insists better scientific evidence is needed of the link between pesticides and a decline in the bee population before taking such action.

Bill says ‘neonicotinoids’ used on crops such as oil seed rape are believed to affect bees’ memories. “It is really one more factor that is not helping,” he says.

“Neonicotinoids are the cheapest to use so farmers will have to go back to more expensive methods of pest control. However, for farmers to grow crops like oil seed rape they need bees to pollinate the crops, so they lose on one hand but gain on the other.”

So how can we do our bit? “There are two things bees need,” says Bill. “One is totally out of our control and that is some decent weather and the other is lots and lots of flowers.”

Bill suggests planting cherry trees and plants such as heathers or hellebores to feed bees. Daisies and dandelions also provide essential fodder for bees to pollinate.

As well as battling the elements, Bradford Beekeepers Association have also suffered a series of vandal attacks in recent months – something it could do without when it is desperately trying to bolster the city’s bee population.

Bill says bees are an integral part of the food chain and the public needs to be aware of just how important the insects are. “We are in a situation now where they need as much help from mankind as they can get,” he says.

Pudsey farmer Robert Tomlinson, the fourth generation of rhubarb and vegetable crop growers, is conscious of the effects pesticides can have on habitat.

He says the pesticides they use today have improved compared to those used 20 years ago, but they tend to spray early in a morning and late in an evening when the bees aren’t active.

“I am all for looking after the environment because, at the end of the day, we rely on the environment to grow our crops and we rely on the bees to pollinate the seed,” says Robert.

Bradford businesses are already helping to boost the city’s bee population by developing hives. Last year Yorkshire Building Society introduced four hives, containing 50,000 bees and funded by the company’s Charitable Foundation, at its head office in Rooley Lane.

“When Bradford Beekeepers’ Association first approached Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation for support we were keen to get involved,” said Bev Cox, Yorkshire Building Society’s corporate responsibility manager.

“Honey bees play such an important role in food production – and they and their life cycle in the hive are fascinating – so it’s a concern how their population has suffered in recent years due to disease and other threats,” says Bev.

“As a building society, we are committed to environmental principles to make our communities more sustainable and are fortunate that our head office on the edge of Bradford is surrounded by a varied landscape which offers honey bees many different sources of food.

“The bees’ presence has created such a buzz among colleagues and we were thrilled to taste last year’s honey crop.

“I would encourage other businesses to consider recruiting some of these hard-working, team-spirited insects, to help the species and bring so many benefits to their people and the local environment.”