Due to the disastrous decline in their population, the remaining bees are overworked. Check out this new design for bees to nest, rest, and refuel.
The expert explained that, due to the decline in the UK’s bee population, the bees that remain are overworked:
Many people keep seeing bees lying on the ground and assume they are dead but chances are they are having a rest. Much like us, a sugary drink could boost their energy levels and a simple sugar and water combination will be a welcome treat.
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Hutchison heard this, and worried. "An egg cup full of sugar water is OK," he thought, "but we get a lot of spring and summer showers in the UK (there's more rain than sunshine in our glorious British Summers) and the sugar water will be replaced with regular rain water within a day or two."
He started reading more about bees: their disastrous decline, due to the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder, their importance to our food supply (if every single bee disappeared, he read, humanity would also die out within four years), and their preferred habitat, which is fast disappearing in our concrete cities and manicured gardens.
And then Hutchison started drawing. His Bee Station is designed to provide an ideal nesting and refuelling site for two species of bee, Bombus pratorum and Bombus horotorum, which nest for 14 weeks.
At the Bee Station site (tagline: "There is no plan bee!"), Hutchison explains that "an earthenware ball provides a perfect environment for nesting bees (bees often try to nest in little holes in brick and stone) while recesses within the 'feet' of the Station hold sugar water reservoirs." In addition:
A bee 'landing platform' in the center of the base also pushes the nesting material up out of the way and keeps it nice and dry. Air ventilation holes at the back of the Station help provide plenty of oxygen while the ball design ensures rain water rolls away keeping your new bee family snug and toasty inside.
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