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.
August 2018
by Katy Malone – BBCT Conservation Officer (Scotland)
That’s usually the way it starts… what follows is often a very interesting enquiry, asked by a beekeeper who knows a great deal about her own (honey)bees, and wants to know if bumblebees are the same or different in that particular regard.
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This month’s guest blog is provided by Peter Lovett, a Trust volunteer, avid gardener, and blogger. Peter invites us into his garden to learn about the techniques he has used to encourage seven different bumblebee species to forage there.
This guest blog post has been written by Charlotte Rankin, one of the Trust’s volunteers. Based in Cornwall, Charlotte has been actively involved in getting the small Cornish town of Penryn buzzing! Read her story here on how small changes have made a big impact to bumblebees and the community…
This month’s blog comes from two of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s enthusiastic and much appreciated BeeWalkers and volunteers, Margaret and Lily Alston.
As volunteers for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, this will be the third year we have taken part in their BeeWalk monitoring scheme.
At least once a month, we equip ourselves with recording sheet, magnifying glass, comfy clothes and of course a picnic lunch, then set off on our ‘walk’. This ‘walk’ is called a ‘transect’ which is a route through the Rock Garden, starting at Bridge Street, going through the top part of the garden, on to the Nature Reserve, then back along the front of the garden, ending back where we started. It is important, as this is a scientific study, to always walk exactly the same route! We also try to go on a sunny and relatively calm day….ideal conditions for our bumblebee friends! Read More
This informative blog is written by The Grass People.
Bumblebees are iconic, charismatic and captivating insects that play a vital role in the lives of us all by pollinating our crops and many of our native wildflower species. However, since the 1930’s we have lost 97% of our flower-rich meadows – leaving bumblebee’s hungry and homeless…
