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Bees And Topsoil
Some gardeners may be interested to know that topsoil is often the perfect place for some species of bees and wasps to form a nest. Not all bees and wasps live in colonies and as solitary animals, burrowing underneath the surface of topsoil in gardens to form a nest is often the perfect place for them to live.
Dwindling Bee Populations
‘Ground bees’ are actually more common than many people think, but as gardeners, it is worth remembering that bees specifically have been troubled in recent years by dwindling populations. This is mainly due to the lack of wild flowers and meadows that have been turned to agriculture to produce crops for animal feeds or for direct human consumption or being developed on by the construction industry as it tries to meet the ever increasing consumer demand for shopping facilities, housing and industrial development.
Homeowners too have been partially responsible for dwindling bee populations by reducing their gardens into glorified car-ports and driveways. The lack of topsoil and vegetation means that creatures like bees have struggled to find homes as well as enough food for them to survive.
Disease has also been a problem, with the increased spread of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), bee populations are increasingly under duress. Recent schemes however have attempted to encourage bees to spread, including the creation of ‘bee motorways’ formed from miles of linked wild flower tracts across the countryside.
Encourage Bees in Your Garden
Gardeners should encourage bees to live in their garden by growing nectar rich flowering plants. It makes good sense given the condition of bee populations to take care when working with topsoil to disturb as little as possible those areas that have attracted solitary ground bees. Also, plants and crops rely heavily on bees and other insects for pollination which is yet another reason to encourage and nurture any bees found in a garden’s topsoil.
Rolawn Topsoil
Rolawn supply premium quality topsoil for a variety of purposes including for growing fruit and vegetables, for encouraging turf and lawn growth and for general all round gardening requirements.