At the start of January delegates from across the food and farming sectors converged at the 10th annual Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) – a conference set up to champion sustainable farming, food production and land stewardship. Set up as an alternative to the Oxford Farming Conference, which has been running since 1936, the Oxford Real Farming Conference has soared in popularity since its inception in 2010. Read More
By Chloe Griffiths, a keen BeeWalker in west Wales who has worked with her local community to improve bumblebee recording data and local pollinator habitat.
by Rosie Earwaker from Buglife, Back from the Brink’s Shrill Carder Bee Project Officer
Hints of spring are in the air. Bulbs are peeking up through the soil, with plenty of snowdrops, daffodils and crocus already in flower. Sightings of Buff-tailed bumblebees in gardens are more and more frequent as the days grow longer. It won’t be long now until different bumblebee species join them, although we will have to wait a couple more months until the high pitched buzz of our Shrill carder bee returns. It certainly won’t be a silent spring this year, but where will we be in 100 years’ time?
by Patrick Saunders
Patrick Saunders (Kernow Ecology) conducted a field survey commissioned by BBCT’s West Country Buzz Project in summer 2018. This was to assess the current status and conservation requirements of Brown-banded Carder bee and Moss Carder bee in North Devon, in partnership with other West Country Buzz project surveys.
Conservation Officers Cathy Horsley and Daisy Headley attended the second Farmer Cluster conference, which was held in Birmingham and attended by 250 farmers, advisors, and representatives from the conservation sector. Farmer Clusters are groups of neighbouring farmers working together to encourage wildlife on their farms, helping to join up habitats across the landscape. The ideas are farmer-led, and are co-ordinated by a facilitator. There are now 100 Farmer Clusters in England, and are aided by Natural England’s Facilitation Fund.
Moving into the cooler days of Autumn and pulling on the layers it’s hard to believe that only a few months ago it was too hot to survey. So what’s been going on with our little Shrill Carder Bee over one of the hottest summers on record?
This guest blog post has been written by Ron Rock, the Trust’s newest Local Volunteer Coordinator, whose longstanding involvement with the Trust has been invaluable. Ron discusses his summer experience with bees and the Trust, offering an interesting personal perspective on his work as a volunteer.
