World Bee Day: Caring for our bees is vital for humanity

As World Bee Day approaches on 20 May, attention turns to one of nature’s smallest yet most vital workers – the bee.

These industrious pollinators are responsible for over 75% of global food crop production and play a critical role in maintaining biodiversity. This year, British eco-conscious home and garden brand, Copper & Green, is requesting everyone to take a simple but powerful step to support pollinators with the launch of its handmade copper Bee Drinkers.

World Bee Day is more than just a token celebration. It is a crucial call to action to support bee populations and help ensure their ongoing survival as they come under increasing threat from habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change.

According to the respected late melittologist (bee expert) Eva Crane, humans have been keeping bees since as far back as 20,000 BC.

To this day, they are responsible for pollinating between a third and two-thirds of our crops, and the loss of these unique insects would spell significant trouble for life on Earth. The World Bee Day initiative brings home the importance of creating bee-friendly environments in our own gardens, patios, and balconies.

Why do bees need water? Bees don’t just collect nectar and pollen. They also need clean, accessible water to regulate hive temperature, digest food, and dilute honey for feeding. In dry spells, urban locations, or built-up areas, natural water sources can be hard to find, making a shallow, bee-safe supply a genuine lifeline for both solitary and honeybees.

Founder of Copper & Green, Paul Selley, explains: “Bees are facing a number of existential threats, from habitat loss to pesticides, and it is our responsibility to minimize future impact. Providing a simple source of fresh water is one of the easiest and most impactful ways we can all help bees thrive, especially as we celebrate their importance on World Bee Day.”

While obvious things like pesticides are mostly responsible for bee decline, nothing else can be ruled out. We are fully aware that electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) can disturb a bee’s navigation as they do for migratory birds. This disturbance will mean death for many bees and even wasps.

The increase of EMFs in the UK over the past 5 years has risen significantly, with 5G from masts and now from satellites in space. This technology will have side effects on everything that lives, and sadly bees, wasps, birds, and basically anything that uses the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate will suffer the most.

It is also true that these insects, including migratory birds, are not often spoken about by political figures, where they continue to blame either pesticides or climate change as the cause of bee loss.

We ask all politicians to do some research on the impact EMFs are having.

By placing a Bee Drinker in your garden this May, you’re giving the gift of hydration to pollinators and helping to build a healthier, more sustainable ecosystem for everyone.

If you see a bee struggling on a bench or elsewhere during the hot weather, you must give them a drink of water. Get a spoon or something the bee can easily drink from; that should hopefully keep it alive! Do not worry about being stung; it won’t have the energy. Do not touch the bee. Once it has come around and starts moving again, move away and watch it come back to life and a good deed done.

Never kill any bee, even if it comes into your house or flat; all it will be doing is wanting to get out again. Keep the windows open and try to move it toward the windows or out of the building, but do so with care.