50 Ways to Help Save the Bees

If you like to eat your fruits and vegetables (and even if you don't!), you should value our planet's bees. Yet, because of environmental pollution, loss of green spaces, and a general disregard for the well-being of insects, humans have caused the number of bees to plummet. In the past year, the managed honeybee population of the United States has dropped 40 percent, and there has been a 25 percent decline in wild bees--figures that are alarming at best. Helping the bees is easier than you might imagine, however, as outlined in this charmingly illustrated call to action.

Here are 50 easy suggestions, along with an informative introduction, to get you started. Try cutting your lawn less frequently, buying ethical honey, and keeping your yard dark at night. You can follow easy instructions for building a bee-friendly window box or a green-roofed garden shed. Little things can make a big difference. Just ask a bee.

Sally Coulthard is the author of design and outdoor living books including Shed Chic, Gardenalia, and The Hedgehog Handbook. She lives on a Yorkshire farm where she keeps sheep, chickens, and the occasional hedgehog.