Friends of the Earth create buzz with bee count app

Bees are good: count them in. Photograph: Friends of the Earth

Albert Einstein once gave mankind a prophetic warning of extinction.

To paraphrase:  “If the bees go, we go”, warned the science great, predicting humankind would last no longer than four years without these crucial catalysts.

Bees pollinate an enormous chunk of our food chain, and without them we would have a serious food shortage problem.

Bee populations are plummeting worldwide. In 2013 the British Bee Keepers’ Association reported a 34 per cent loss of colonies in winter, twice the loss of 2012.

Pesticides deemed harmful to bees have been banned by the EU, however the UK scores as one of the highest in Europe for bee colony loss.

But humankind hasn’t lost the fight for bees just yet.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) have launched The Great British Bee Count, a national campaign to record and reverse the plight of British bees, and they’re asking everyone to get involved.

FOE has developed an app for iOS and Android, complete with profiles of each species that allows users to provide first-hand information on bee sightings.

The data will be used, according to the charity, “to help experts assess the practical steps needed to reverse the decline of our bees”.

Non-smartphone users can also report bee sightings on their PC.

That’s one way you can help out the beleaguered British bee, but what can you do to help our local Apoidea?

According to Katherine Pitt from Hackney and Tower Hamlets FOE, “People can plant bee-friendly pollen plants in their gardens or anywhere outside. These create a better environment for bees to thrive in”.

One might be forgiven for thinking that a mostly urban landscape such as Hackney would not exactly be a hive of bee activity, but one would be wrong.

East London has several bee farms, and even a Bee Keepers’ Association, which you can visit and where you can  learn about bee keeping yourself.

Hackney City Farm in Haggerston Park is home to several colonies and runs courses throughout the summer.

FOE suggest supporting hives by buying honey locally, and with East End purveyors such as The London Honey Co in Tower Hamlets or Clive Local Honey Man in Hackney, the  area has no shortage of enthusiasts.

For more information and to dowload the app go to the Great British Bee Count.