'Bee-roads' across Dorset could stop British strawberries dying out
A Weymouth farmer has planted over 30 football pitches of bee-friendly crops
'Bee-roads' all over Dorset could be the answer to saving some of our favourite foods.
Due to a decline in vital pollinators like bees, British fruits like strawberries and apples could vanish within the next 25 years.
A Weymouth farmer says he's planted 31 football pitches worth of bee-friendly crops, but it won't be enough without our help.
Will Holmes says we need to help link farms together with 'bee-roads' to encourage pollinators to habitat.
He explained how it works to Greatest Hits Radio Dorset:
"On our farm we've been planting up lots of nectar flower plots all over the farm that give the bees really big habitats, and really big food sources to be able to thrive.
"If they're not able to move between what we're doing here, and then to another farm that's 5 miles away from us that's doing similar things, then the bees aren't going to be able to do well overall.
"So we need them to have lots of pitstops all along the way, whether that's in people's gardens or business premises, we need them to be able to have roads on to travel, just like we do."
Around a third of the food we eat every day relies on pollinators such as bees, butterflies and bugs. These pollinators need more patches, across the country, that are planted with the flowers they love and are close enough together to enable them to stop and refuel, as they move around the country. The network is critical to help bees transfer pollen around the nation to effectively pollinate plants and produce the foods we love.
"Pollinators are in a terrible situation in the country at the moment. We've got so many pollinating species that are in decline at the moment and they're so vital to being able to pollinate so many of the crops that we grow in this country.
"So to have all of those pollinating species in decline in the UK, virtually, we're in a real issue where if that trend continues and they continue to decline then we're not going to have pollinators left in 25 years to pollinate our crops."
Will says an initiative to send out 100,000 seed packs to the British public could be a helping hand for us all to start creating 'bee-roads'.
You can find out more at www.arla.co.uk