Bees in Ireland
Ireland has 101 species of bee – 14 are well-known social species including the honeybee and 13 bumblebee species. The remainder are lesser known solitary bees that do not form colonies but make individual nests.
Bees are not only a large component of biodiversity, but they also provide a valuable ecosystem service of pollination. The majority of our flowering plants require pollination to reproduce. As humans, we rely on pollination for 1/3 of all foods that we eat. In Ireland, crops such as apples, strawberries, clover and oilseed rape all benefit from pollination and the value of this service to the economy has been estimated at €53 million per year. The worldwide estimated economic value of pollination is € 153.000.000.000
Bees are not the only pollinating species in Ireland. We also have 30 species of butterfly and over 180 hoverfly species.
30% of bees are currently threatened in Ireland, with this figure rising fast. Many butterfly and hoverfly species are also threatened. The main threats to pollinating species include habitat destruction, agricultural intensification, and a lack of food sources and nesting sites. There are many simple measures that can be taken to help conserve our pollinating species such as planting plants attractive to bees in your garden, leaving areas of garden “wild” to act as nesting sites, maintaining hedgerows and other semi-natural areas as forage and nesting areas.
Gardening to benefit bees:
The hybridisation of many popular garden plant species has resulted in an overall reduction in the production of pollen and nectar, some species may even be sterile. This renders them a lot less useful to pollinating species such as bees. Planting native species that offer a succession of flowers, and therefore pollen and nectar throughout the growing season, is extremely beneficial to pollinators. Native plants are usually best for native bees, particularly older, heirloom varieties of perennials and herbs which have good sources of nectar or pollen.
There are many different locations, even within urban areas, that can offer foraging habitats for pollinators, such as parks, gardens and even golf courses. Even a small area planted with good flowers will be beneficial for local bees, because each patch will add to the mosaic of habitat available to bees and other pollinators. However, in rural areas, as mentioned before, the maintenance of healthy diverse hedgerows as well as keeping areas ‘wild’ is extremely effective for pollinator populations.
Tips for attracting bees and other pollinators
1. Avoid pesticide use. Most pesticides are not selective. You are killing off the beneficial bugs along with the pests.
2. Use local native plants.
3. Chose a diverse range of colourful flowering species. Bees use their strong colour vision to help them find flowers and the nectar and pollen they offer. Blue, purple, violet, white, and yellow are all particularly attractive to bees
4. Choose species that will flower at differing times through the growing season. Most bee species will feed on a range of plants throughout their life cycle and this will also allow a range of bee species to be supported.
5. Plant flowers in clumps. Flowers clustered into clumps (best approximately 4 foot in diameter) of one species will attract more pollinators than individual plants scattered through the habitat patch.
6. Choose flowers with differing shapes, again providing a range of flower shapes means more bees species can benefit. However, open cup shaped flowers are the bees' favorites such as foxgloves.
7. Plant in the sunniest and most shaded areas.
Wider country-side tips for attracting bees and other pollinators
- Avoid pesticide use. Most pesticides are not selective. You are killing off the beneficial bugs along with the pests.
- Protection of hedgerows. Halting the loss of hedgerows through their removal and well as improving their productivity would be two very simple measures to help pollinators. In recent years, Ireland has seen its hedges over-cut resulting in a loss nesting sites (hedge banks) and a reduction in food for bees.
- Increase biodiversity. Planting a range of grass species, promoting diverse hay meadows and flower-rich grasslands instead of intensive grass-lands, would allow for a range of flowering species to persist and therefore a great bee species range.
- Provide undisturbed habitat areas. For example, leaving buffer zones around hedges and woodlands in farming reduces the effects of fragmentation and increases biodiversity. Maintain a mosaic of interconnected ‘wild’ habitats.
- Roadside verges and motorway embankments should be managed to encourage wildflowers, and cut less often.