Bees' Needs Week starts today!

Bees' Needs Week (14-20 July) starts today, which is an annual event run by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), working with a range of organisations including conservation groups, businesses and charities.

The aim of the week is:

• to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators;
• share ideas, actions and activities that highlight the ways in which everyone can help them thrive.

Prioritise pollinators

Pollinators are a priority for the UK government and a key part of delivering the Environmental Improvement Plan. We know that bees, and other pollinating insects, are an essential part of our environment and play a crucial role in food production. However they're under threat because of pesticides, 'concrete gardens' and a changing climate.

DEFRA works in partnership with many organisations and partners to help our precious pollinators survive and thrive.

Everyone has a part to play to encourage more beautiful butterflies and buzzing bees in your local area. We can all take simple steps to protect our pollinators and help to restore our natural world.

Get involved

There are five simple actions that anyone can take to help pollinators:

• grow more nectar flowers, shrubs and trees - using window or balcony boxes are good options if you do not have a garden;
• let patches of garden and land grow wild;
• cut grass less often;
• do not disturb insect nests and hibernation spots;
• think carefully about whether to use pesticides.

Flower-insect timed (FIT) counts

This year you can also get involved with invaluable citizen science - all you need to do is simply spend 10 minutes watching flowers and insects in good weather.

FIT counts can be done anywhere, including gardens and parks in warm, dry weather, any time from April to September. 

Every single count submitted to the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS) helps make our data more meaningful, to help us learn more about where pollinators live and how their numbers are changing.

There is guidance on how to do FIT counts, here.

Bees' Needs champions

Each year we celebrate Bee's Needs champions, which recognises and celebrates examples of exceptional initiatives undertaken by:

• local authorities;
• community groups;
• farmers;
• businesses; and
• individual people,

to support pollinators.

Whether that is creating a wildflower patch, educating the local community about pollinators, or taking special measures on your farm.