Why we love the bees (with the help of Gosnells Mead)

At Gosnells, we produce mead, one of the world’s oldest drinks that is made from honey. We take what the bees don’t need for winter, and create drinks that help to educate people on how important bees are.  We are so proud to have teamed up with Muddy Trowel, who have these incredible pollinator planting sets, so that more of you can feed the pollinators and improve your connection to nature.  

When Muddy Trowel asked us to write about bees and pollinators, we not only wanted to highlight their role with us, but also their role for our wider ecosystems. 

Here are our favorite 3 reasons why we love pollinators: 

1. If pollinators went extinct and you walked into the supermarket, almost 90% of the items would no longer be on sale. Why? The fruit and veg need to be pollinated, but also the food that animals eat needs to be pollinated too. They are really important to make sure our food systems successfully operate. 
2. The variety – it’s not actually just bees that do the pollination job, and though at Gosnells we do love bees, we can’t let them steal all the thunder. So butterflies, their waspy cousins, beetles, moths, flies, bats and even mice get stuck into the pollination game. They all fly, flit or scurry their way around their favourite plants (a bit like a pollen bar crawling from plant to plant). 
3. They make honey – this integral part of the beehive not only makes mead but also is an important ingredient in many cosmetic products, foods, and medicinal remedies. 

How can you encourage and help our pollinators? 

1. Buy organic fruit and veg, or ‘wonky’ veg from market stalls or companies like Oddbox – this reduces your consumption of fruits and veg that are sprayed with pesticides (which will kill or injure the pollinators) 
2. Switch to using greener pest control methods (or switch to companies that do). Biocontrol can include releasing ladybirds onto the crops, for example. 
3. Buy plants and flowers that pollinators love for your outdoor space, such as sedums, salvias and coneflowers, you can view Muddy Trowel’s pollinator collections here.  

Let’s keep this world spinning with the help of pollinator friends! Want to try some fantastic mead? Check out Gosnells and their products here.