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Recent years have seen a considerable increase in the importance of preserving bees. Now, many homeowners are looking at ways to incorporate bees into their communities’ ecosystems.
In some cases it is hazardous to have them around. In such cases, homeowners who want to preserve the bee colonies’ place in the environment request services for bee removal Melbourne residents use to relocate them to a more practical area elsewhere. Other people try to find ways to keep bees in the garden by simply relocating them on the property. Here are the reasons all of us should consider making space for them close by.
Reasons to Keep Bees on Your Property
Before you opt for relocation or removal, consider the reasons why bees are beneficial to your property’s ecosystem.
Food Pollination
The main reason bees are necessary for our environment is that they pollinate our food. Pollinating fruits, berries, nuts and seeds ensure that these plants continue growing and can continue producing fruits for another season.
You may be surprised to learn that bees pollinate an amazing 85% of food crops intended for food consumption every year. Since bees can travel far between plants they pollinate everything from fruits to coffee beans! Isn’t it time your garden produces more home-grown items?
The best native flowers to plant in your garden if you want to attract bees include:
- Pin-cushion hakea: This small, evergreen shrub blooms between April and August and can be grown as a tree or a smaller shrub. As one of the top attractions to the stingless bee, this plant is a wonderful addition to your bee sanctuary.
- Tea tree: Australian tea tree is a small shrub that features small, needle-like leaves and gorgeous little red, white or pink flowers. It’s another firm favourite for local bee species.
- Lavender: One of the top benefits of planting lavender in your garden is that it deters other critters such as spiders and cockroaches. Aside from its aromatic fragrance, it will also add a beautiful purple palette to your garden.
Produce Honey
Bees are also the producers of natural honey, the syrupy liquid that honeybees create from plant nectar. Honey is loved all around the world for its intense sweet flavour and is used in many different recipes. Why not try your hand at harvesting honey—do be careful—or make your garden the source of the best flowers to benefit professional beekeepers’ hives?
Honey is well known for its amazing antibacterial properties. There are also a bunch of other health benefits to using honey:
- Nutrients: While honey is primarily made up of sugar, it also contains nutrients such as riboflavin.
- Antioxidants: Since honey contains important bioactive plant compounds such as flavonoids, phenolic acids and antioxidants, it’s excellent for rebuilding the cells that fight heart disease.
- Better for blood sugar levels: Honey is also better for your sugar intake than regular sugar, because it’s natural sugar and doesn’t contain any additives. It’s considerably better for you if you’re trying to manage your sugar levels.
- Medicinal properties: You may have noticed that a variety of medicines contain honey. This is because the antibacterial properties make it an excellent additive to medicines designed to aid cold and flu relief.
For the most part, the taste of honey depends on the various flowers it’s made from. This means adding different flowers to your garden may give you a variety of different flavoured honey options.
Wax Production
For the most part, bees live in wax honeycombs. These wax fortresses can be used to create candles, serve as cosmetic ingredients and it’s present in wood furniture waxes and polishes.
They may also be used to preserve bronze, copper and even waterproof leather. Did you know that the waxy coatings on your cheese rounds come from beeswax?
Benefit Environmental Biodiversity
Bees also contribute to the biodiversity of the ecosystem on your property and surrounding area. Aside from pollinating food plants, bees also need to pollinate wildflowers, shrubs and trees which keeps these plants in your ecosystems.
These plants and wild shrubs may also be food sources for animals in your area. Tropical forests, savannah woodlands and deciduous trees wouldn’t survive without bees. Additionally, bees help regulate the presence of other pests in your garden. So it serves as an added layer of defense along with using services like flea pest control that’s necessary to maintain a healthy garden.
Bees are a Food Source
Despite being crucial to our survival, bees themselves are also a food source. Just like any other insect, bees form part of the food chain. There are at least 24 different bird species that prey on bees. Spiders, dragonflies and praying mantises also eat them, making them vital for ecosystems in yet another way.
Final Thought
If you have a beehive in your garden, rather than killing them, consider relocating it to another spot on your property. You’ll be doing the plants and crops in your area a huge favour! It’s as simple as asking your pest control expert to assist you with relocating the hive to a spot that’s safer for everyone around.