Anja Murray: Do more for pollinators by doing less in the garden

I constantly encounter well-meaning community or business initiatives in which people decide that setting up a few honey bee hives is a good idea to tackle the biodiversity crisis. This is like being worried about the decline of wild birds and deciding to get a few hens as a response

A bee's body is covered with tiny hairs, which accumulate static from the flying motion. When the bee lands on a flower, the static causes pollen to cling to these hairs — like when you rub a balloon in your hair and it sticks there. The bee can then easily rub herself down and push all the pollen in to her pollen baskets Picture: Alamy/PA

In the garden, the apple blossoms are buzzing with bees — a sound that reassuringly reminds me that sunny spring and summer days are returning. I watch as bumblebees gather up pollen from the yellow anthers dangling from the centre of each pale pink flower that they visit, earnestly stuffing the particles in to the pollen baskets on their hind legs.

These pollen baskets fascinate me. They are like perfectly formed knapsacks attached to the bee’s hind legs, just below the knee. The bees have no need to go to any great effort to collect up the pollen, as evolution has already perfected the relationship between the flowers and the bees.