SOMETIMES it has been known for our national counterparts to over-dramatise events.

But the decline in bees is something of which one cannot over-emphasise the potentially disastrous consequences.

Without bees to pollinate plants we could be facing a famine crisis – 80 per cent of our food relies on the winged workers.

Sadly for many people, they see them as a flying striped menace armed with a sting set to strike at any moment.

Associated with the picnic menace of their imitator, the multi-stinging wasp, a rolled up newspaper is often seen as the answer to their presence.

But with each swipe we could be scything down crops that would be but food for the crows on the fallow land.

It is why the county council’s attempts to get us better educated on bees gets our backing.

While perhaps a beehive in the back garden is not everyone’s cup of tea, if the local authority can convince some to open a B&B for bees in their yard then perhaps the yellow and black population will begin to climb again.

Coupled with more bee-based learning in schools, making children realise they are not a buzzing nuisance and need to be cherished, Oxfordshire could become their bastion.

Doing so will surely be a fruitful campaign, quite literally.

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