Whereas our bees are struggling by the use of pesticides and neoinicotinoids in our country side, they seem to develop particularly well in the heart of our cities. That's excellent news obviously! Urban beekeeping has become more and more popular, there are around 1000 urban beehives for example in Paris!
However, as for everything in Nature, everything comes back to a balance. The rise of beekeeping is rising the population of domestic bees but creating an unbalanced competition with wild bees. These ones are not producing honey but they are highly contributing to our biodiversity. Hopefully, many studies have shown the importance of regulating better the population of these domestic bees by limiting the introduction of new beehives.
For gardening, these rising bees populations are excellent news, there are much more pollinators than before in our cities, so let’s welcome them & feed them by planting more flowers in our urban areas.
THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF POLLINATORS
Most of our fruits and vegetables are coming out of a flower. This is the case for tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines and many more. But to make this birth happen, the flower needs first to be pollinated. In the end, without the intense job of these bees and bumblebees, we would be able to grow much less food. Thus, it's necessary to welcome them by using the right flowers.
I'm personally a huge fan of Lacy Phacelia. These beautiful purple flowers are used for honey beekeeping and pollinators loves them! They are simple to grow and will adapt perfectly in a window planter. Lavender is another specie which will make a wonder, I would also recommend these simple and beautiful daisies.
Don't underestimate the crucial role of flowers and pollinators, they will be a key contributor to your future harvests!
I wish you to welcome many cutie bees on your urban garden. Feed them, they will feed you back!
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