For centuries bees have been happily pollinating plants around the British Isles. However, since the Second World War, changing agricultural practices have eradicated almost all of the UK's lowland meadows. Gardens are now a major refuge for wildlife. But how much do they help? A recent study in Plymouth, UK, kept a close eye on the bees to see how they coped in British gardens.

They found a lot of gardeners like to brighten up their surroundings with exotic plants. For some bees this is an all-you-can-eat buffet. For others like Bombus hortorum, the long-tongued ‘garden bumblebee’ (above), it's more of a problem. They need native plants.

Fortunately they also found that planting just a few native species in your garden can be a massive boost to struggling bees. And some are very easy to grow.