It's no secret that here at Honeybuns we absolutely love bees!

So much so that we even have a bee on our logo. Here are some of the things we do to encourage bees here at the Naish Farm.

What we're doing at Honeybuns to help bees

Our friends, Jacqui and Colin have just started their new family venture, Tom's Honey. They needed a nearby sheltered meadow with high hedges and plenty of bee friendly plants for their hives.

Jacqui explained to us that bees need peace and quiet, shelter from the wind, and plenty of nectar rich plants close by. We've been planting bee friendly flowers, trees and hedges for a few years now plus we had a perfect sheltered spot in the Honeybuns nature reserve to offer them. We're really looking forward to providing a safe, welcoming home to Tom's Bees.

Below is a video of Jacqui moving the bees from their travel crates into their new hives here in our meadow. You can find more videos of their re-homing on our YouTube page.

How to have a bee friendly garden

Here are our top tips to make your garden a bee haven all year round

Bee friendly planting
As well planting bee friendly flowers such as catmint, Rosa Rugosa and lavender, we're also allowing brambles and nettles a bit of space too. We're happy to set side some space for wild plants to thrive. Organic plants and seeds are best, as they've been grown without pesticides.

Don't use pesticides
We always try and use organic, avoiding using anything that has nasty chemicals.

Bee houses
We've got a few bee houses dotted around the farm, in sunny spots, providing nesting spaces for solitary bees and insects. Easy to make yourself or buy online. If you make your own do make sure it has a waterproof roof.

Have a water supply
We use shallow bowls with water, but add pebbles, stones, or even marbles in them to give the bees a surface to drink from so they won't drown.

Here are more of our tips on how to have a bee friendly garden.

Team vegeTABLE PATCH HOW TO BE SELF SUFFICIENT

Our favourite Bee lovers and plant suppliers

Brigit Strawbridge - We love Brigit's blog. Her passion and knowledge on bees and pollinating know no bounds. Look out for her book 'Bees, Trees and Herbal Teas' coming in 2019.