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Spring has arrived! Blossom is bursting, green leaves are unfurling, birds are singing and all sorts of little creatures are emerging. Have you been lucky enough to see any bees yet?
This week’s challenge is all about bees. Next time you are able to get outside - in your garden, the park, or even stopping by hedges or trees on your street, can you take a few moments to ‘bumble’ around looking for insects or other bugs, and possibly spot a bee. The first bees tend to emerge in late February - keep your eyes peeled. You may like to use the attached ‘Woodland Trust Nature Detectives’ minibeasts check list to see how many little creatures you can find.
When you are back at home you could learn about bees by trying to draw one. This youtube video explains the different parts of the bee, and shows step-by-step how to draw it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho4aUHY6fss
An exciting opportunity - THE WEEK JUNIOR would like to feature some of our Young Climate Warriors undertaking this week's challenge - send us a photo of you, participating in this challenge, and we'll try to get your photo in print!
After you have had some time bumbling around looking for insects, then remember to HIT THE RED BUTTON!
Bees are struggling with climate change – on top of already having to deal with less wild spaces for them to live in, and the increased use of chemicals on our land. Climate change and its extreme weather is causing extra stress for bees. Droughts result in less flowers which in turn means less nectar for bees to feed on. Droughts are also thought to change the ‘floral scents’ unique to each flower – bees rely on these clues in their search for food. Stormy weather is also problematic - whilst bees can forage in light rain or showers they can’t do so in heavy rain. Climate change and shifting seasons are also resulting in a mismatch between the period when flowers produce pollen and when the bees are ready to feed on them. So what can we do?
One of the best ways to help bees, is to provide them with more opportunities to feed. If you have a garden, you could ask your parent / carer if you could create a ‘bee friendly’ wild space. You could try sowing some wild flower seeds, or grow some of these plants that bees particularly like - primroses, lavender, cosmos, poppies, sweet Williams, ‘snapdragons’, and marigolds? You could also just leave the area untended and ‘messy’ – some bees love long grass, or making nests in compost heaps or under hedgerows. If you don’t have a garden, you can still help the bees! You could grow some herbs in a pot on an outside windowsill or balcony. Bees love collecting nectar from rosemary, thyme, oregano and mint – all of which you can also use in your cooking.
If you’d like to learn more about honey bees and their ‘waggle dance’, you could watch this David Attenborough narrated 3 minute video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU_KD1enR3Q
Due to the restrictions currently in place to tackle COVID 19, we have decided not to take a holiday break but to continue with weekly challenges over the Easter holidays. If you know anyone else who might enjoy the Young Climate Warriors challenges, please forward them this email and ask them to subscribe by using this link:
Don’t forget to HIT THE RED BUTTON when you have undertaken this ‘Bee challenge’.
