LOCAL residents are being asked to help save our bees by counting them during the Great British Bee Count.

Bees help to pollinate hundreds of our main crops, including apples, strawberries and tomatoes. Without bees we can kiss goodbye to granny's apple crumble, strawberries and cream and even that cheeky gin and tonic.

The UK has, shockingly, lost 20 species of bee, while a further quarter of all species are on the red list of threatened species. A big reason is that bees depend on flowers for food, and in the past 60 years 97 per cent of our wildflower meadows have disappeared.

To help combat this decline, the Great British Bee Count, in collaboration with Friends of the Earth's Bee Cause, are encouraging people to help them understand the current populations by registering a bee sighting or undertaking a two-minute bee count.

The easiest way to get involved if you own a smartphone is to download the Great British Bee Count app from the app store or Google Play. From there you can send photos and locations of bee sightings, as well as undertaking a bee count and accessing advice on the best species to plant in your garden to give the bees a helping hand.

The Great British Bee Count is going on throughout May, so download the app or go to http://www.foe.co.uk">www.foe.co.uk and get counting those bees.