AIBU to remind everyone to help save bees?

[ItHappenedOneDay]

Just that...It's World Bee Day today. Was reading an article about the importance of bees (they're pretty important, it seems ):
www.independent.co.uk/environment/world-bee-day-extinct-bees-biodiversity-risks-pandemic-coronavirus-a9522361.html

They're also having a hard time at the moment and suffering from their own viral disease. And of course so many habitats have been lost, including from people paving their small back gardens to create low maintenance outdoor 'living spaces'. AIBU to say that even those of us with tiny gardens/courtyards/balconies (including myself) should try to put out some bee-friendly plants or bee houses to encourage the bees? Just finished planting some lavender in pots.

They LOVE clover and rosehips. The clover blooms through the season.

My dc and I planted some wildflower seeds in a couple of pots yesterday.

We let our grass grow a bit so the dandelions, daisies, clover and buttercups grow.

We buy local honey where possible.

I planted 10 lavender bushes in my front garden last year. They're growing really nicely now. Love the bees :).

The perfect opportunity to post this glorious photo taken by my DD, who is 12 and registered blind (she has approximately 10 per cent vision). Another bee-loving family here (well, the four-year-old still needs a bit more convincing).

@ithappenedoneday

I was so excited today... in the bug hotel that we made ourselves the bumble bees are nesting woohoo success!!

Don't forget early spring flowers for them for next year too.

I'm not a gardener but planted some seeds of bee friendly flowers recently and I've been enjoying watching them start to grow. :) They're also growing in the path near the bed I sprinkled the seed over so I'm guessing I wasn't overly accurate but I can't bring myself to remove them from the path now.

Loving all the bee love here! And picking up a few tips.

@Moominmammaatsea, love the photo your DD took!

@IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls, bee house is our next project...Hoping we will have some bees in residence soon.

@DDRickyDD, sorry to hear about your negative experiences with bees. Have you tried not agitating them? My toddler is getting fairly good at keeping calm and not touching. Also, while sending commiserations to your uncle, I also feel a little sorry for the bee that lost its life under his bottom.

On balance, while naturally respecting different viewpoints, my view is that the necessity of bees for our survival outweighs the discomfort of a few stings (while, of course, having the utmost sympathy for those with severe bee sting allergies, which must be terrifying).

I grow plenty of bee friendly flowers

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We love bees too. They seem to move into our tit boxes each year when the birds move out. This year we’ve got small bumble bees who love the cotoneaster nearby - the drone noise gets quite loud on warm days.
We don’t worry about them even though the plant is by the back door, they’ve always been very friendly and docile, rarely come in the house and they leave around July.

Great thread OP 👏

YANBU. I wish I could do something but I live in a flat with no outdoor space at all.

DS and I love bees. There is a big flower bush just outside our building and we stand there for ages watching the bees work.

There’s a whole website called RosyBee (I think!) that specifically does bee-friendly plants. I think nearly anything with a nice pollen-y middle goes down well, though.

What do you use for water for them ? I'd like something attractive to use for the marbles, how shallow should it be?

@failedasaparent one of those under pot dishes is perfect with the marbles in. And they come in all sorts of colours.

Yanbu. We love bees here too. Especially my toddler. We’ve just planted some bee friendly plants in our new garden.

I have two large lavender and the bees love them.

I have suggested to council number of times that instead of boring old grass, they could turn some of the median strips on the roads into meadows. Silence... Shame though.

Wildflower meadows. Sorry

OMG I've been seed bombing empty verges with wildflowers and teasel heads as I know our council isn't going to do it. The dry weather hasn't made any of them spring into life yet through.

I thought about it! But then the wildflowers need different cutting than grass so they would ruin them, wouldn't they.

The bees are happy in my garden with lots of campunula and rhoddedendrons

@Proudboomer, your flowers are lovely! They must really cheer you up when you see them. My son loves the alliums in our local park (though I have to keep him from picking them). I've told him we smell flowers and don't pick them, so now he goes and sticks his nose next to them and sniffs loudly, even the ones that have no scent .

@Waxonwaxoff0. It is so hard being inside a lot with a child, especially in this hot weather. We lived in a 5th floor flat until last year, and my son would have to run off his energy in the hallway (sorry, neighbours ).

Do you have any communal space you could take over for a small paddling pool (one of my London friends in a tiny one-bed has done this for her toddler and none of her neighbours seem to mind)? Could you have a window box for herbs etc.? Or those clear acrylic planters that suction onto the window (you could put them outside)? One thing we had that kept our son amused for ages was a transparent bird feeder that attached using suction cups so he could see all the birds coming to get food - he used to love that, although you need to get a pigeon/squirrel safe one.

ItHappened that is not an allium they are Echinops otherwise known as a globe thistle. The bees love them And so easy to grow. I also grow globe artichoke for the bees as they get huge with multiple flower heads which you can eat but I prefer to leave them for the bees.

YANBU! I'm in the process of trying to create a bee friendly haven at my new house. Great tip about the water too, I did not know that