How do bees help put the food on our plates?

This month we look at the plants we can grow that are great for bees as they provide them with nectar and pollen, and great for us as they provide us with fruit and vegetables to eat.

04 January 2023

Bumblebee on chive flowers

How do bees make our food?

Explore the meaning behind the words in bold in our glossary at the bottom of this page.

Fruit starts forming after a bee successfully transfers pollen from one strawberry flower to another.

January is a great time to start planning what to plant in the spring. Many plants we can grow are not only brilliant for bees and other pollinating insects, providing them with pollen and nectar, but also give us food to eat. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Fruit

Growing fruit such as strawberries and apples provides bees and other pollinators with pollen and nectar while the plants are in flower, then at harvest time you will have delicious fruit to eat and share.

Use these resources to make the most out of your school garden and grow fruit all year round:

Fruit in containers

Strawberries for free

Fruit calendar

Vegetables

Broad beans, peas and French beans all have flowers too. This is good news for pollinators who can visit the flowers to gather pollen and feed on the nectar, and great for us as we can harvest and eat the lovely vegetables. A vegetable garden is an excellent teaching resource and will provide great enjoyment and satisfaction to all involved. If you are new to vegetable growing, check out this article.

Learn how to grow these tasty vegetables:

Broad beans

French beans

Herbs

Herbs add flavour to our food and many of them have flowers that bees and other pollinators love to visit. For example chives, marjoram, fennel, borage, rosemary, sage, hyssop, lemon balm and thyme. Chives have purple flowers loved by bees, and the leaves are very tasty in salads and sandwiches. Chive plants are also easy to divide to make more plants to grow and share - learn how to divide potted herbs here.

Easy herbs to grow

Try this activity

Pollinator activity (Image credit: St George's Primary School)

Think about your lunch today, which foods have pollinators helped to put on your plate?

Draw a plate with a knife and fork, then either draw on, or cut out from magazines and stick on, the different foods that we need pollinators to produce.

Alternatively, why not design a poster to teach people about the importance of pollinators in food production? Share your creations with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Bee Garden at St George's Primary School

Snow in the Bee Garden (Image credit: St George's Primary School)

Have you had snow this winter? Plans to get plants for pollinators into the ground at the Bee Garden at St George’s Primary School, Camberwell were delayed due to the snow last month. The cold weather and hard ground would have made planting too difficult. We are looking forward to them being planted this month instead – look out for an update on this.

Glossary

Nectar	Sweet liquid mainly produced in flowers.
Pollen	Dust-like powder produced by flowers and carried by wind or pollinators to other flowers of the same type, so they can make seeds and grow new plants.
Pollinators	Animals that move pollen from one flower or plant to another e.g. bees.
Pollinated	When a flower or plant has received pollen which has resulted in the flower or plant being fertilised.
Pollinating	When pollen is in the process of being moved from one flower/ plant to another.

Find out more about bees

Are you just buzzing to find out more about bees? You can find out more in our monthly updates.

Learn more about pollinators:

September update

Find out more about pollen:

October update

What happens to bees in winter?

November update

Discover how many types of bees there are in the UK:

December update