We are buzzing that Biotecture, Growing Revolution’s parent company, are BusinessPlus Members of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.
Bumblebees are excellent pollinators due to their larger bodies and ability to pollinate more flower types than domesticated honeybees. This is why the UK economy relies on bumblebees to pollinate our crops, fruits and plants, so it’s vital that their population thrives. However, our bumblebees are in real trouble… The UK countryside has lost 97% of its wildflowers since the 1930s, leaving bumblebees with little to feed on and dramatically reducing their wild populations.
But you can help!
Wildlife-friendly planting
By planting bumblebee-friendly, nectar-rich flowering plants in your PlantBox living wall, and elsewhere in your garden, you can support local wild bumblebee populations year-round by providing essential forage and shelter. It’s important to plant a variety of plants that flower at different times of year as the bumblebee active season is March—October (although some species are now active over winter, so winter-heather and mahonia are excellent winter-flowering plants for those hardy bumbles!)
If you grow strawberries and tomatoes, you can feed yourself the fruits, and pollinators can forage their flowers for nectar. Bumblebees also love the flowers of herbs—all of the following can be easily planted up in a PlantBox trough and used in everyday cooking: chives, thyme, rosemary, sage, mint, oregano, lavender, and borage. You’ll be the bees’ knees if you grow these!
We’d love to see your photos of bumblebees and other wild pollinators foraging from the flowers on your PlantBox troughs! Tag us in social media @growingrevolution or send to contact@plantbox.shop
Bumblebee facts from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust:
Find out how your business can support the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in the conservation of this vital species.
Join the Growing Revolution!TM