Save the Bees, Save our Planet, Save the World, With Bee Farming

 


With our growing consciousness for the world around us, and the importance of saving our planet, it’s always useful to know how your big business can get involved. So, where can you start?

“Don’t Step on a Bee Day” is fast approaching, and that means only one thing - implementing “save the bee” initiatives. This global reminder acknowledges that the fate of bee-kind rests in our hands, and what better way to celebrate it than to get involved in bee preservation.

Big businesses really do have the upper hand here, as they not only have the opportunity to influence customers, but also the suppliers they choose to utilise. Bee farming is just one of many ways we can help to save environment, and is also a fantastic diversifcation idea! Get your FREE tickets to the Farm Business Innovation Show to meet the companies who can make this idea a reality - whether it be a big change or a small change, every little certainly does help.

Cute bee on a yellow flower

Why Should we Save the Bees?


It may come as no surprise to you, but bees are paramount to our ecosystem, and are key players in providing us with sustenance to survive. That said, the extent of their effects on our environment may not be so well-known to many of us. In fact, a single colony of bees is actually capable of pollinating 300 million flowers every day, supplying around 90 percent of the world’s food sources (see more about this, here)!

Unfortunately, with our human tendency to over-indulge, our bee populations are declining due to bee-killing pesticides, parasites, climate change, and lack of flowers. Without these bees, we truly can’t survive. With this in mind, how can you, as a thriving landowner, make a difference?

An Innovative Solution: Bee Farming


Bee farming seems to be the next big thing, with people at home trying their hand at cultivating their own hives, in the comfort of their back garden. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as big businesses, and owners of plots of unused land, could hop on the bandwagon with this trend, to spur their own profit margins in a number of ways.

Attract Visitors


Firstly, bee farming isn’t just a great way to facilitate a more eco-friendly environment, but it actually provides educational opportunities for visitors to learn about saving our planet. From a young age, we’ve become accustomed to flinching at the sight of these black and yellow creatures, but it’s time we taught our younger generations to respect our furry friends.

These bee farms, if equipped with the correct bee farming equipment, like bee suits, could revolutionise land-owning potentials.

Improve Crop Yields


What’s more, who knows the positive effects that these additional pollinators may have on your crop growth. In fact, an independent review, culminated by Defra in 2014, estimated that pollinators add around £600 million to the value of crops each year!

This comes down to the simple fact that bees improve crop quality, growth, and numbers. By increasing the bees in your area, you may benefit from these statistics.

Bee Products


Then, to top it off, you have the added benefit of the sweet nectar these tiny beings live to create: honey. With the right weather conditions, honey, alongside other bee products, like candle wax and polish, can be an amazing way to increase revenue (for these stats, click here). The list of possibilities is endless!

A group of bees working on their honeycomb

Are There Any Drawbacks to Bee Farming?


We don’t want our bee farm to become a fruitless venture, which may cause more harm than good. In some cases, bee farming can have negative effects on the local wildlife. To tackle these issues, there are some simple solutions.

Firstly, it’s important that your bees match your local flora. Some bees, for example, can exhibit the wrong shaped tongues for reaching into tubular flowers. Without the appropriate bees for your area, your efforts may become redundant.

That said, it is possible to purchase certain species of bees, from reliable sources, to tailor them for your landscape. For example, The Local Honey Man supplies fantastic bees for anyone starting out.

Nevertheless, with one solution comes another potential issue. This being that native bee populations may struggle with their farmed invaders, as competition can be particularly fierce in areas lacking the abundance of flowers to pollinate.

Lack of flowers is one of the main causes for bee decline. So, the solution is simple: in rural areas, with rich farms and lots of wild flowers to pollinate, bee competition should become less of an issue.

Bee on purple flower

Bee Farming: The Sweet Truth


So, let’s recap. Saving the bees is paramount for the survival of our planet, and landowners have the upper-hand here. By implementing a bee farm onto a spare plot of land, not only can you create honey to sell, you could potentially improve your crop yields.

Most importantly, though, you can help your local environment through increasing biodiversity, and improving your visitors’ knowledge on the wonders of bee-kind. Through this education, you could help to debunk our human fear of anything crawling, flying, or buzzing, promoting bee prosperity for our earth’s future.

If you’re a bee supplier, and wish to exhibit at our Farm Business Innovation Show on 6th-7th November 2019, at the NEC Birmingham in the UK, then please contact our Event Director, Reece Morris, at reece.morris@prysmgroup.co.uk, or call +44 (0)117 929 6087.

Alternatively, if you’re an industry expert and want to have a look around to see what we have to offer, you can order your FREE tickets, here. We look forward to welcoming you!

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