Why are bees so important?
As bees fly from flower to flower collecting nectar, they also collect bits of sticky pollen on their legs and furry bodies, which they then transport to the next flowers. This means that they play a key role in plant pollination, without which plants could not reproduce. So why is this so important?
Well, bees pollinate a massive 70 out of the 100 crops that feed 90% of the world. These include staples like onions, potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, beets and carrots, as well as tasty fruits like apples, mangos, plums and the famous avocado!
In some cases, bees are not vital to pollination, but do help to increase the quality and quantity of the crop yield. This means that without the bees, production of many of our staple crops would be greatly reduced, while some may be lost altogether.
With the world’s population increasing rapidly, and world hunger already being a huge problem, the loss of these vital crops would be a disaster!
Which of our products rely on bees?
It’s not just food that is affected by bees – many of our most popular remedies rely on them! Just like crops, many of our products are pollinated by bees, including the sage for our Menoforce, the Echinacea for our Echinaforce and the cranberries for our Cranberry Complex.
Some of our remedies also contain bee by-products, such as the Propolis in our cold sore ointment, Bio-Propolis, and the honey in our cough spray, cough syrup and Echinacea lozenges.
How does going organic help?
The pesticides used in non-organic farming can be lethal to pollinating bees. In some cases they simply kill bees, but in other cases they can make bees slow and drowsy, hinder learning and cognitive function and even affect reproduction. This can eventually lead to the collapse of the entire colony.
Herbicides used to kill weeds in non-organic farming also remove food sources for the bees, further hindering their survival.
Organic farming, on the other hand, avoids the use of these pesticides and herbicides, as well as artificial fertilisers. This provides a rich environment for bees to thrive, with a wider variety of plant life, which further supports other wildlife such as birds and field mice.
The Soil Association also suggests that organic farms should ‘create wildlife corridors to link habitats, for example making continuous semi-natural habitats containing hedgerows, field margins and verges.’1 This helps to attract beneficial insects like bees as well as other types of wildlife.
In fact, the Soil Association claims that plant, insect and bird life is 50% more abundant on organic farms!
Buying more organic produce supports organic farming – the more you buy, the less demand there is for non-organic products, which encourages more farmers to go organic!
How else can you help the bees?
Aside from going organic, one of the best things you can do for bees in your area is planting some bee-friendly wildflowers in your garden. You can buy these online and sprinkle them in a corner of your garden or in pots on your windowsill. You can get these from Friends of the Earth, Plantlife, or Just Bee Drinks.
If you grow your own fruit, vegetables or herbs, make sure you don’t use pesticides, weedkiller or artificial fertiliser on them. There are lots of other ways to keep pests out of your garden!
To deter slugs, snails and caterpillars, place crushed eggshells around the bottom of the plants they like to attack – they will stay away from these sharp shells to protect their soft bellies.
If aphids are your problem, then attracting natural predators like wasps and ladybugs using wildflowers and herbs like mint, fennel and dill, will help to keep aphid populations under control.
We love bees!
Here at A.Vogel we love bees, as you can probably tell! We not only rely on them for a number of our products, but we also do our best to provide a friendly environment for them to thrive.
Our herb garden in Switzerland is full of lots of herbs, plants and flowers that bees love, and is always buzzing with insects. These aren’t harvested for our remedies so provide a permanent home for bees and a great spot for the public to explore. In Scotland we also have lots of flowers and plants growing at the front of our offices.
At Roggwil, where the majority of our herbs are grown, we operate on an organic basis. Our crops are hand-weeded by our wonderful staff and fertilised using our own homemade compost. This compost is mostly made up of the leftover plant mulch from the manufacturing process, so we produce less waste too!
Our crops are also planted in rotation, with plenty of space in between for wildflowers to grow.
1) Soil Association Organic Standards: farming and growing, Revision 17.4 August 2016
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