Bee Friendly in Brighton! Caring for Pollinators in our City

By Xenia Christopoulou and Heather McKnight

As part of our community Reconnect! Programme we were very excited to run a Bee Friendly workshop, which aimed to educate local residents about the plight of pollinators, and build confidence in engaging with others in the community while tackling this issue in our city, where there are many solitary urban bees. The workshop was designed to build community, teach people new skills about their lived environment, build confidence, reduce eco-anxiety and educate!

Our expert facilitator Xenia led us through her story, and how her initial fascination with bees started with honey, she is now about 30 years on from that initial fascination, and as a vegan, she is no longer consuming honey. However, she was still as enthused by this nature’s little wonders as she was when she first learned about their existence. Bees are, on the whole, very interesting insects that are indelibly linked to humans’ food security. They pollinate over 130 fruits and vegetables, and on many occasions, they are the only pollinators adapted to these plants. They are responsible for pollinating three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants. They pollinate seeds and nuts, helping plants and trees to grow – which is vital to clean, breathable air.

close up shot of a bee on a purple flower
Photo by Ralph on Pexels.com

There is about 26,000 known bee specie, however, out of those, only eight have the capability of building colonies that contain honey. There are a huge variety of bees, from cuckoo solitary bees known as ‘brood parasites’ to leafcutter bees. In the UK, there are over 250 known species, primarily solitary bees, there are twenty-four species of bumble bees and only one species of honey bee! It is important to remember it is not all about just bees – there are other pollinators, including, but not limited to wasps, butterflies, moths, and flies, that are equally important.

What is happening in the countryside?

As humans have industrialised farming to feed a growing global population, pollinators – animals vital for plant reproduction – have seen their food supply decline. In the UK, intensive agriculture has eroded biological diversity in large portions of the countryside, with vast swathes of cereal crops and ryegrass pastures now replacing flower-rich habitats.

Agriculture represents approximately 70% of England’s land use (DEFRA, 2011b) and as such agricultural production can have a substantial impact on the resources available to bees throughout the landscape. In particular mass flowering crops, such as apples or oilseed rape, can provide short-term but highly abundant forage for local bees, and pasture grazing can influence the quality of nesting sites and bee forage in grassland.

Bees in the City

While we might think about bees as countryside critters, about 83% of the UK population now live in an urban area.  Urban areas are complex patchworks of different land uses, from green spaces like parks and gardens to pavement, road verges to roofs. Recent research conducted in 2021 in the UK suggests that urban landscapes are hotspots of nectar diversity. This means that there are more kinds of flowering plants producing nectar in towns and cities than in the farmland and nature reserve sites we measured. Bees are drawn away from monocultures into this diverse landscape, because just like in humans, a balanced diet is important for keeping pollinators healthy, helping them to fight off diseases.

What can we do?

While the picture may seem bleak globally, with so many pollinators in urban areas, there are actually many small ways we can work to help support the pollinators in our city and beyond! 

1. Join a local conservation group:

Brighton and Hove Space Forum: https://bhgreenspaceforum.org.uk/ 

Reach out to On the Verge Sussex:chr.xenia@hotmail.com 

Join an action Day with Brighton Greenway: https://brightonstationgreenway.wordpress.com/ 

2. Speak out about what is happening to our pollinators

Speak to your MPs and representatives about cut and collect 

Petition to take pesticides off the shelves: https://www.pan-uk.org/take-pesticide-products-off-supermarket-shelves/ 

Support Nationwide and local organisations:

  • Friends of the Earth
  • The Bumblebee Conservation Trust
  • On the Verge 

3. Make a Local Space more Bee Friendly!

Create a Bee Hotel for solitary bees to lay their eggs in lay their eggs as they don’t live in hives, or a Bee Bath for the hotter months.

Plant your own wildflowers by transforming an unused urban space (e.g. tree base, road verge etc.) or if you have a garden space you can plant pollinator-friendly wildflowers there!

In the last part of our workshop, everyone made a bee hotel out of recycled materials to take away and place in their local community. It is important that with all of these global issues, we can take little local steps, helping our nearby pollinators one larvae at a time!

We hope you enjoy these pictures of our Bee Hotels creations and are inspired to go forth and make your own!

Useful Links and Resources:

  • ‘All About Yellow Jackets, Bees, Wasps & Hornets | Gardener’s Supply’. Www.Gardeners.Com, https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/yellow-jackets/7700.html. Accessed 27 Feb. 2023.
  • Fox, Audrey. ‘Foods Bees Pollinate’. Friends of the Earth, 26 Oct. 2021, https://foe.org/blog/foods-bees-pollinate/.
  • The WaspLove Game. Wasps are nature’s pest-controllers and pollinators. This game is based on observations of the complex social life of the European paper wasp and was created by UCI and fo.am, funded by NERC, UKRI.

The #wasplove game