Rich people's gardens are better for bees and other pollinators

14 January 2019

By New Scientist Staff and Press Association

Pollinating insects, such as bees, seem to prefer richer areas. This may be because gardens in wealthier areas typically have a wider range of flowers.

A team surveyed the distribution of plants and pollinating insects in four cities in the UK: Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds and Reading. They found that residential, allotments and community gardens supported a greater abundance of pollinators than other types of urban land, such as parks and road verges.

“This is consistent with the so-called ‘luxury effect’ whereby socioeconomic status is often positively correlated with urban biodiversity,” wrote the team in their paper. “In our case, the effect is driven by the greater quality of floral resources for pollinators in wealthier neighbourhoods.”

Up to 50 times more bees were found in gardens than in areas with man-made surfaces including car parks and industrial estates. The authors recommend increasing the number of flowers in parks and other public green spaces and providing more allotments in towns and cities to increase the number of pollinating insects.

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https://www.newscientist.com/article/2190656-rich-peoples-gardens-are-better-for-bees-and-other-pollinators/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=news