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September is NZ Bee Awareness Month
This month is Bee Awareness Month and over the past 12 years Kiwis have celebrated our hard-working bees.
Not only do our bees produce a vital food source, as commercial pollinators they also play critical roles in our food chain, biodiversity and $5 billion Apiculture economy.
New Zealand has a healthy bee population with over 900,000 registered hives, however, we can't get complacent about bee health. Bees all over the world face a range of threats including: biosecurity, climate change, disease, bugs and pesticides. If you want to play your part in supporting healthy bee populations, here are some simple and easy things you can do to help our bees.
How you can help
- Feed the bees – Bees need food and water. Planting bee-friendly plants and vegetables like :pumpkin, squash, rosemary, sunflowers, lavender, and providing a saucer of pesticide-free water for bees to drink, are effective ways you can help improve bee health. Well-nourished bees are more capable of fending off disease and parasites.
- Mow your lawns fortnightly rather than weekly. Our bees thrive in longer grass where they can pollinate more freely, being attracted to some weeds and non-grassy plants. Pesticides, herbicides and non-organic fertilizers should not be used on pollinator friendly lawns.
- Spray safely – Choose bee-safe pesticides if you are spraying your garden or consider whether spraying is necessary at all. Remember to spray when bees are away: early in the morning or at sunset.
We want to support Kiwi's gardeners to protect our bee colonies as they are a vital part of our ecosystem. For September, we are offering FREE NATIONWIDE DELIVERY for all Swift Grow purchases. Get the coupon code here. By switching to organic gardening methods, our bee's notice the difference and will be attracted to these flowers that hold beneficial bacteria - and in turn will protect the colony.
Buy Swift Grow Organic Fertiliser online and see how your plants thrive and get the bees buzzing in your garden.
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