We are celebrating international Pollinator Week because we want to make our Island a better place to live and to visit. Connecting people to nature is one of the key ways to help do this and we are passionate about reconnecting with wild nature and allowing flowers to flourish.
At The Wildheart Animal Sanctuary we maintain several beehives at the sanctuary while throughout the grounds our planting scheme and encouragement of wildflowers helps to create a natural environment for bees to thrive.
We were also delighted to discover this summer that we have Bee Orchids establishing in our grounds and beginning to flourish. They are small but flamboyant flowers and known as one of nature’s great mimics.
The flower has a velvety lip looks like a female bee and tricks males to fly in and try to mate with it – and they end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, despite being seduced by the promise of love, while the pollen is transferred the poor male bee is left frustrated!
In 2018 we were approached by BeesMax which is a not-for-profit company who has the sole aim of reversing the decline of the UK bee population. One of our most recent additions to the sanctuary is the Italian designed B-Box which you see pictured here, which has a safe observation area to allow to see in to the hive and the bees at work.
Without bees our planet would be in trouble. They pollinate a third of the food we eat and 80% of flowering plants. But bees are facing many threats, including habitat loss and poisoning from pesticides. When we found out we could help; we wanted in!
Pollinators like bees, butterflies, and bats provide 1 out of 3 bites of food we eat so why not say a big thank you by planting native plants, encouraging wildflowers, supporting local farmers, and helping to spread the word about the importance of pollinators?
So join us in celebrating International Pollinator Week and help rewild and restore our Island’s natural balance.
