by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Pollination is as important to gardeners as it is to farmers and commercial growers. Without it fruit and vegetables do not set and yields are reduced, if they ever occur.
This, however, is about to change with the introduction of Harrod Horticultural’s exclusive new product range – Beepol. Beepol is set to be the bee’s knees - enabling gardeners to have their own working Bumble Bee colony!
Aside from the fact that you will have very busy pollinators Bumble Bees are extreme fun to watch too. They are so funny in their antics at times that one can do nothing but laugh.
Enjoy the benefits of Bumblebee pollination in your garden with the Beepol Garden Hive or the Beepol Bumblebee Garden Lodge. Pre-order your Beepol Bumblebees from Harrod Horticultural now to ensure you are one of the first to benefit from these industrious and fascinating pollinators!
The Beepol Garden Hive (GCN-003 £64.95 + £4.95 P+P)
Exclusively available by mail order from Harrod Horticultural, contains a live colony of bumblebees housed and supplied in a maintenance free hive. The hive contains a queen bumblebee, workers and bee food and is populated with a native UK species of Bumblebee. The Bumblebees are released by an easy to use trap door system. Bumblebees are more efficient pollinators than honeybees because they visit more flowers and carry heavier loads, are active at lower temperatures than honeybees and use “buzz pollination”, which helps pollinate a wider variety of plants. Plants pollinated by Bumblebees include; Beans, Runner Beans, Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Apple, Plum, Tomato, Peppers and many more.
The Beepol Bumblebee Lodge (GCN-004 £124.95 plus £4.95 P+P)
Also exclusively available from Harrod Horticultural, is based on traditional beehive designs and is made from cedar from FSC grown timber sources. It comes complete with a Beepol Garden Hive housed inside. Bumblebee colonies do not continue through the winter and will die back in the late summer or autumn when the new queen bumblebees have dispersed. The old hive can be taken out and a new one placed in the Beepol Bumblebee Lodge the following spring, ensuring you have your own Bumblebee population each year. The Beepol Bumblebee Lodge can also be purchased throughout the year as a gift (GCN-005 £124.95 plus £4.95 P+P) The Bumblebee lodge comes with a voucher to send away for the bees when they are in season from mid March to the end of August.
I have been lucky enough last year that a colony of Bumble Bees adopted and old mattress that was places against the wall inside the garage as a “hive” and they were very busy and industrious all through the summer. I hope they'll come back this year too.
Not that that helped too much with the courgettes; they just did not want to set last year, but then they can be rather finicky. Other things though did quite well and I do hope for a better season still this year.
© 2011
Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.
