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A scientific study on the land of UK farmers Mark and Paul Hayward has found that they manage to feed 1m bees at any given time in a day.
The two brothers run a pig farm in Suffolk, and decided four years ago to set aside almost 80ac at their Dingley Dell Pork farm for wildlife.
This was achieved by planting nectar rich flowers and trying to farm more sustainably. The farm uses a seed mix of phacelia, sainfoin, birds-foot trefoil, alsike clover, musk mallow, campium and vetch.
"This was our target when we started – to grow enough to feed a million bees on a single day," said Mark, a third generation farmer.
Every third bite of food you eat can be attributed to pollinators
"We are acutely aware that bees are under threat from modern farming methods and that East Anglia is one of the worst offenders for bee foraging diversity.
"Every third bite of food you eat can be attributed to pollinators and we wanted to create an operation on our farm that did not push nature out, but rather embraced it – as a central part of our eco system and our food cycle."
The scientific study was carried out under the guidance of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.
According to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, many types of bumblebee in the UK have seen their populations decline by 70% and two species have become extinct in the last century.
Gill Perkins, CEO of the Bumblebee Trust, said: "The 'bees per square metre' figure can take a bit of finessing, but even allowing for some extrapolating, the studies show that Dingley Dell is feeding at least one million bees at any one time.
Their commitment and passion for protecting bumblebees has to be applauded
"Nobody has done anything of this scale before and the point that should be made here is how committed Mark and Paul are to ensuring that their farm is pollinator friendly.
"Their commitment and passion for protecting bumblebees has to be applauded. And what they have done here is truly exceptional."
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