The urgent need to save the world's bees is finally receiving lots of attention in the media; during the last few months, we have covered initiatives to create urban bee corridors and a no-mow May to increase food supply for bees. Despite these well-intentioned efforts, however, our key pollinators are still in deep trouble, with a third of British pollinators in decline.
What would our world look like were the bees to disappear altogether? Shocking artist's impressions released by Bloom and Wild show a disturbing view of landscapes devoid from all vegetation, with luscious parks such as London's Kew Gardens replaced by barren wastelands.
A bee-less world would be extremely bad news not just for our parks and agriculture. Animals would suffer immensely, with a knock-on effect seeing insect-eating birds becoming extinct, followed by mammals who predate on those birds.
And while the solutions to the bee population crisis require global solutions, there are things we can – and should – do to help them, especially those of us who are lucky to have gardens.
Follow our tips on how to create a bee friendly garden; if you choose to do just one thing to help bees, plant a wildflower patch in your garden using one of the best wildflower seed mixes in our buyer's guide.