Bees’ Needs Week in the United Kingdom

July 13 to 19 was Bees’ Needs Week, a campaign co-ordinated by Defra in the UK to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators, and to provide practical advice on what we can all do to support them.

A host of organisations are involved, including charities, universities, farming groups and businesses, to share ways in which everyone can help pollinators. The Bees’ Needs Website has case studies and information sheets for land managers. Other information shared on social media includes gardening tips, ways to get involved with citizen science and quizzes to learn more.

Online content

Throughout the week Defra and their partners shared a variety of content online including:

• Why bees are important animation
• Day in the life of a beekeeper video
• Educational resources
• Information on the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme
• Farming videos and podcasts

The public got involved on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using #BeesNeeds.

Results

More than 20 organisations were involved in Bees’ Needs Week, including charities, universities, farming groups and businesses. An animation on why bees are so important drove over 118,000 impressions on social media. During the week there were around four thousand mentions of Bees’ Needs on Twitter.