Ella McSweeney’s article on bees highlights the loss of wildflower and meadow habitats and the mass extinction of invertebrates.
An immediate remedy would be to curb herbicide use in verges and hedgerows and introduce a yearly (July/August) cut-and-clear-debris regime to facilitate wildflowers.
Herbicides kill most perennial plants and encourage coarse weeds- nettles, cow-parsley and cleavers, and need to be used again the next year.
Cut-and-clear weakens coarse weeds and promotes biodiversity, with the return of species such as cowslips, ox-eye daisies and native orchids.
New wildflower meadows are a possible solution – they require cut-and-clear if they are not to revert to scrub, or become dumping grounds.
If introduced in existing public parks and grassy spaces, such as the Phoenix Park, a cut-and-clear regime (hay-making, instead of the current mulch-mowing), combined with introduction of the native yellow rattle (which weakens coarse grass and thus facilitates perennial flora), would over a few years create wide acres of “new” wildflower meadows at little public expense.
Dr J Holden,
Kilmainham,
Dublin 8.
To bee or not to bee (Irish Times letters page)
Pic: Donegal Diaspora
Bernard Casey wont be happy with this.
There is nothing wrong with the bees you fear-mongering sociopaths.
they were sent by the devil to cause mayhem and havoc among god’s people
And honey.
Don’t forget the honey.
Sentient is not a bee-liever.
David Attenborough tweets that one should leave a spoon of honey in the garden for them :)
I love that man.
Silly David. Everyone know that we get honey from bees!
If we started to give honey to the bees where would we be?
They’d start a strike!
Bees are good, bees are good…
Thanks.
Ella’s bees are good!
Also; don’t mow your lawns or verges, or when you do leave strips or patches to grow ‘wild.’