Sheena Patterson of Oxford Garden Design takes a look at reasons for beeing helpful

Regular readers will know that I often despair about creatures setting up home in my garden, particularly those that like dining out on my precious vegetables.

But I’m pleased to report that not all wildlife is hell-bent on creating havoc in my garden, indeed there are many species that I am very keen to encourage, most of all bees.

The two types of bee you’re most likely to see in the garden are the honey bee and the bumble (or humble) bee. Both are allies of the equally humble gardener. They help by taking pollen from one plant to another and are essential for a fruitful harvest. In fact, over three-quarters of the world’s food crops require insect pollination, and bees pollinate more than £1 billion worth of crops in the UK each year.

Bees are amazing creatures.

They live in organised communities in the middle of which lies the Queen. Like many of us women, she is the heart and soul of the colony and without her the rest of the colony simply can’t survive. She is the reason for their beeing, and completely pampered by the worker bees.

But you may have noticed that recently bees are becoming more of a rarity in our gardens. Our bees are missing. It almost sounds like we misplaced them and are now wondering where to find them. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case – bees are not playing hide and seek, waiting for the right conditions to venture out.

Sadly our bees have been disappearing for some years now, and recently we’re witnessing much steeper declines and even extinction of some species alongside other pollinating insects including butterflies, moths and hoverflies. This has raised concerns about the impact on food supplies, gardens and the countryside.

Seriously declining numbers would damage commercial crops of fruits and vegetables such as carrots, cabbages, apples and pears as well as the flowers and vegetables of this humble gardener.

It’s thought that growing levels of disease, several poor summers, long-term climate change, and the loss of wild flowers have all contributed to the collapse of bee colonies. If we want to attract them back, as gardeners, I think we need to look at what we’re planting and the chemicals we’re using, if any. A two-year EU ban of three neonicotinoids, the most widely used insecticides in the world, began in December, following research that they harm honey and bumblebees. (Neonicoinoids are systemic pesticides which are applied to seeds so that the chemical spreads within the plants).

Apart from not using these pesticides, I have noticed a growing trend (pun intended) of people planting flowers specially to help pollinators and other wildlife. At the moment we are designing a garden specially to attract bees. Even in small spaces and difficult conditions, there is generally something you can plant: for example, ivy grows at a fantastic rate. Although in the past I admit to eradicating it virtually on sight because its dense growth can swamp other foliage, I’ve had a change of heart because ivy is also a fantastic source of nectar for bees.

Sheena Patterson is owner and designer at Oxford Garden Design. See oxfordgardendesign.co.uk or email sheena@oxfordgardendesign.co.uk