Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
11th May 2019
Feeding Bees
Every now and then I see something and think, ‘I wish I had thought of that’, and the ‘bee saviour’ cards are just that.
Bees have such a high metabolism that a full tummy of nectar will last just 40 minutes, which means they’re often starving and seen on the ground in obvious distress.
If I find a tired bee, I always prefer to put them onto nearby flowers, where they may be able to find nectar, but I appreciate not everyone is comfortable picking up a bee. And sometimes the bee is just too weak to stay on the flower, so then I will feed them with a little honey, or sugar solution, in order to give them the energy they need to get flying again, but that’s only possible if I’m at home or with an understanding client.
This summer, a clever new device will be launched which means you can feed a bee no matter where you are.
Norwich-based inventor Dan Harris has created ‘Bee Saviour’ cards, which enable you to keep tiny amounts of potentially life-saving sugar solution in your wallet. It’s genius.
The bee saviour cards are recycled from old credit cards and each have three refillable “cells” which contain solution for bees. Dan hopes to have the £4 cards on sale online from next month.
These things are always controversial and Buglife isn’t so keen on the idea, claiming that too many people just put out huge amounts of sugar solution ‘willy nilly’ last year creating all sorts of other problems.
Personally, I think all these ideas need a good dose of common sense, which unfortunately isn’t too common, these days. Please only feed a bee the tiniest amount of solution in order to revive it and then be careful not to get it on the bee itself.
And remember flowers like dandelions are a great source of food for bees. All too often one minute they have an all-you-can-eat buffet to feed from and the next day the area is mowed and their food is gone. Bees stick to familiar flying routes so they are also wasting energy looking for flowers that have been removed.
There are lots of little things you can do to help the bees and raising the blades on your lawn mowers to keep dandelion heads, daisies and clover for the bees is one of them. Buying some of Dan’s cards, when they are available, is another.
Canny Dandelions
Dandelions don’t just provide food for our bees; although still largely considered to be a weed, young dandelion leaves can be eaten in a salad or sandwich and contain numerous vitamins, including more vitamin A than carrots. You can dip the flowerheads in a tempura batter and fry, or try Dandelion Soup:
Simmer a pound of roughly chopped young, clean dandelion leaves for 15 minutes in chicken or vegetable stock. In a separate bowl combine double cream and an egg yolk and add to the stock. Warm through but don’t boil and serve.
Help the Hedgehogs
Last week was Hedgehog Awareness Week, organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS). Aiming to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and how you can help them, the week is used to raise awareness but we need then to take this awareness and apply it, along with common sense, for the other 51 weeks of the year too.
There are simple things we can all do to help hedgehogs:
- Make sure there are gaps in garden boundary fences and walls to allow them to roam for food. A hedgehog can travel a few miles each night.
- Move piles of rubbish to a new site before burning it.
- Check areas carefully before mowing or strimming.
- Ensure netting is kept at a safe height; keep it off the ground so a hedgehog doesn’t become entangled. This also applies to football goal netting.
- Stop using pesticides and poisons – slug pellets in particular are still responsible for too many hedgehog deaths.
- Cover drains, trenches and deep holes, or check frequently.
- Ensure there is an easy route out of ponds & pools and from cattle grids.
Hoglets are born from May to July and normally whereas we say if a hedgehog is seen out and about in daylight, they are probably poorly, these months are an exception as it could be a harassed mum looking for food for her young. You can help them by putting food out for them – a saucer of cat/dog meat, chicken in jelly is a favourite but please no meat in gravy. They will also eat small cat biscuits and most garden centres now sell hedgehog food. Please don’t put out bread or milk, as this can kill them.
Make sure a bowl of water is always available for them too, as most lethargic hedgehogs are dehydrated. You will find lots of useful advice at www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk
Most people want to help our wildlife, but please remember that you have to take action in order to do so, just reading what to do isn’t enough – please go and do it!
If you find a hedgehog that is looking unwell, or disturb a nest of hoglets, or need any relevant hedgehog advice then please phone Hedgehog Helpline Cymru 07557 646773. Keep this number by (or in) your phone, along with the number for your local Beekeeping Associations, as it won’t be long before bees will be swarming and you may need that number too. Do look it up before you need it!
Leave a Reply