A bug hotel is a wildlife refuge for insects, solitary or lone bees and wasps to lay eggs, hibernate and hide from other predators.  Ultimately the purpose of this is to increase pollination by providing additional habitat for pollinators.   Our pollinators have had a tough time in recent years with the destruction of hedgerows, intensification of agriculture and urban sprawl to name but a few of the challenges.

According to Biodiversity Ireland (https://biodiversityireland.ie)

• There are 20,000 recorded bee species in the world. 5% of these are honey bees and 95% are solitary bees like the Ashy mining bee or hairy footed flower bee.
• In Ireland we have 97 species of bee and 76 of these are solitary bees.
• Of the 100 crops that provide 90% of the world’s food supply, 71 are pollinated by bees.
• In Europe, 84% of the 264 crop species are animal pollinated and 4,000 vegetable varieties exist thanks to pollination by bees (UNEP, 2010).

Looking to build your own ‘Bug Hotel’?  There are lots of good websites that will give plenty of ideas and direction,  such as the RSPB Wildlife website (https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/nature-on-your-doorstep/garden-activities/build-a-bug-hotel/)

Have fun!

Our speciality Woodland coffee is made from 100% Arabica coffee beans that are Rainforest Alliance Certified.  Arabica coffee plants are self-pollinating and don’t need any direct assistance from bees to pollinate but the presence of healthy bee populations leads to higher coffee yields. Bees and other insects interact with the ecosystem that helps control pests and disease that otherwise curtail the healthy growing cycle of the coffee plant.  Coffee grown under shade (the forest canopy) allows for greater protection from weather events like frost but also provides shelter for a myriad of flower and fauna that allow for a thriving balanced ecosystem.

Growing coffee in harmony with the Rainforest will not stop severe frost events but it will go some way in mitigating the damage caused by these events thereby protecting the communities that depend on the coffee crop for their livelihoods.

So what can we do to help the situation?  Sourcing coffee that is Rain Forest Alliance (RFA) certified is a great step.  Rainforest Alliance is an worldwide organisation that promotes sustainable agricultural practices to protect the social, economic and environmental coffee growing communities across the coffee belt.  Woodland Coffee is roasted using only RFA coffee beans and we believe that this is one of the reasons why the coffee tastes so good. Please drop us a line, if you’d like to find out more!

At this time of the year, I like to try and get things going in the garden and also start something new. My green project this Spring is to start composting all organic waste from our household in a new thermal composter, it will require a little bit of adjustment to how we do things but the benefits are immense.

One of my past Spring projects that I think has yielded the most amount of satisfaction and joy year after year was sowing a wild flower garden 6 years along a very ‘challenged’ section of our garden that is very dry due to the overhang of trees sucking up moisture and creating lots of shade.

The benefits of wildflowers are well understood in encouraging insects to feed, shelter and pollinate.  Apart from doing our bit to improve our garden biodiversity, the wild flower garden is incredibly pretty in summer which different varieties of flower coming into bloom throughout late Spring and Summer, it’s incredibly easy to maintain, just cut it down to about 10cm in late September and remove the cut clippings to the compost.

There are lots of indigenous seed varieties available to buy and you can select a variety based on whether your aspect is sunny, shady, dry, damp etc.  The key components in establishing the garden are:

• Match the seed choice with your site, sunny / shady etc
• Clear the area of any existing weeds by digging them out (along with the roots if you can)
• After about 2 weeks remove any weeds that might have escaped your first attempt.
• Calculate how much seed you will need based on your area – allow about 3g per square meter
• Rake the area removing stones and breaking down larger lumps of soil into to a fine consistency.
• Try and pick a day for sowing where the soil is damp or when light rain is expected.
• Disperse the seeds by hand and gently walk on the area after planting to press the seeds into the ground

In the first season, you will get an immediate result (most likely poppies and daisies) but some varieties take a season or two to get going so there is a lot more to look forward to.  Even if you have a small area of your garden where a wildflower garden is possible, give it a go and you’ll see a noticeable increase in bees and butterflies.

Woodland Coffee is a part of rain forest alliance which means that our coffee is grown and harvested in a manner that protects the rainforest by engaging in management practices that allow both coffee and rainforest to thrive in sympathy with each other.  Coffee beans start life off as a white flower which need lots of pollinators, it’s no different in Ireland.

The holly tree makes a great choice for most gardens, they grow slowly so they are very easy to maintain. They shed very little leaf litter, so less to clean up. They attract birds, particularly the thrush, who really like ripe holly berries.  They grow in shaded areas or under other larger trees which provides additional cover for birds and mammals like the hedgehog.

If you are thinking of planting a holly tree, try and get a female one, which will produce berries, and a male one which is needed to pollinate, they typically should be spaced within 20 meters of each other to allow for efficient pollination.

The holly is a versatile tree that I think punches way above its weight in terms of decoration, maintenance and biodiversity and what’s more, it’s a native Irish tree, extra sustainability kudos!!  We hope that you and yours have a very happy Christmas and we hope that you will join us for a coffee in 2021.

#biodiversity #sustainability #Christmasholly