Grab your phone, head into the garden or onto your stoep and snap a pic of your bee-friendly plant with the Candide app and join the nationwide #PolliNationSA campaign as we celebrate World Bee Day today. The free community gardening app is making a big buzz on this bee-awareness day and aim to recruit a minimum of 100 000 South Africans to become bona fide bee protectors.
“There’s no underestimating the importance of having a healthy bee population,” explains Candide Market Lead, Shani Krige. “At Candide we’re devoted to helping gardeners create nurturing spaces in all shapes and forms, so it makes sense that we ensure our beloved bees are part of this mix.”
It’s an indisputable fact: we need bees to survive. They pollinate more than a third of all our food crops (that’s one in three mouthfuls) and around 90% of wild flowers.
“That apple a day, those carrots and cucumbers, garlic, grapes, olives, onions, strawberries, watermelons and nuts…they’d all be gone, along with many more daily dietary items, if our bees disappeared,” says Krige.
This is how you join the #PolliNationSA campaign:
- If you’re not already part of the Candide community, download the free Candide app, available on the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
- Snap a pic of a bee-friendly plant that you’re growing in your garden, on your stoep, windowsill or balcony. Bee-friendly plants and flowers include Aloe, Vygies, Clivia, Daisies, Protea, and Rosemary. Candide’s got loads of information on pollinator-friendly plants – you may also want to consider more than one plant to ensure there’s something in bloom for the bees throughout the year.
- Share the pic on the Candide app using the hashtag #PolliNationSA.
- Once posted, you’ll receive a #PolliNationSA icon that will be added to your Candide profile pic confirming your pollinator status.
You’ll also automatically be added to the campaign’s countrywide map depicting the spread and reach of this growing movement. “The more people we get involved, the more bee-friendly spaces we create,” says Krige. And to assist you, here are some tips to ensure that what you create, attracts these busy little guys…like bees to honey.
Plan Bee
- Bee Diverse…plant as many different flowering herbs, plants, shrubs and trees as possible.
- Bee Creative…make your own bee hotel, find the simple steps on how to build one on the Candide app, then hang your hotel on a sunny wall, sheltered from rain.
- Bee Careful…avoid using insecticides, pesticides and chemicals that are toxic to bees and leave some garden areas wild.
- Bee Aware…know your weeds, and make sure you don’t get rid of the ones that are great sources of pollen and nectar.
- Bee Sensitive…don’t swot the swarm, rather contact an eco-conscious beekeeper to relocate them to a safe home.
- Bee Kind…look out for and protect natural bee habitats.
- Bee Supportive…and buy local honey.
- Bee Social…consult the Candide app for more advice, and to share your own findings.
- Bee Vocal…spread the word!
“With #PolliNationSA we’re hoping to leverage off the existing awareness and provide an opportunity for everyone to get involved in something truly worthy”, concludes Krige
So go on, make a beeline for your phone, get onto the Candide app and help create the hive of activity that will make #PolliNationSA a home-grown success.
Details: Candide ZA
