8 November 2021
By Trust volunteer, Steve Gunn
Like many kids I was fascinated by insects and would go down to the woods with a large jam jar to see what was around. Often I would catch a bumblebee feasting on rose bay willow herb and would be amazed that when I released it, the bumble would head straight for the flowers and start feeding again rather than exacting revenge on me!
When I eventually bought a house I created a small lavender hedge in the front garden. As it matured the number of bumblebees that visited grew to the point where I could see twenty or more at any one time. I had no understanding then that there were different species other than noting that some of them had different coloured ‘bottoms’. I was also struck by how some of the bumblebees seemed to nod off clinging to a lavender head – a sort of quiet nap after dinner.
More recently I moved to North Devon in 2018, driven in part by my desire to get closer to nature and to get back to the practical conservation work that I had enjoyed in my early twenties before career, mortgage and family took over – yes I’m afraid at times it was in that order! As part of my search for conservation activities, I attended a talk about bumblebees given by Dr Cathy Horsley. With her enthusiasm for bumblebees, her West Country Buzz (WCB) project focusing on the Brown-banded and Moss carder bees and with my previous fascination for bumblebees, something went ‘CLICK’. I decided there and then to help out bumblebees wherever and whenever I could, setting the ambition to track down these rarer species on the southern side of the Taw estuary where none had been observed since 1999.
My starting point was a relatively straight forward one, as I had recently joined the conservation volunteers at Home Farm Marsh (HFM), owned by the Gaia Trust. HFM borders the Taw estuary at Fremington/Yelland for over a mile and in consultation with the reserve warden two BeeWalks were established in 2019, which are undertaken by myself along with other volunteers. My wife joins me from time to time as well acting as bee spotter. “Bee” she cries – I then just have to catch her up as she doesn’t believe in a slow pace!
Whilst the walks identified that HFM has some great habitat for bumblebees, in particular the western and eastern flood banks, there has been no sign of the Brown banded or Moss carders. On the plus side however the walks over the last three years have recorded significant numbers of the Red-tailed and White-tailed bumblebee and Common carder bees, together with a Barbut’s cuckoo bumblebee, which had not been recorded in North Devon for a number of years.
Having not found these rarer species at HFM, in 2020, I added an additional BeeWalk along the estuary near Instow, which is directly opposite Braunton Burrows on the northern side of the Taw where the Brown-banded carder bee resides. Regrettably no sign of the rarer species here either but noting significant numbers of White-tailed and Buff-tailed bumblebees including a nest for the former in the dunes.
Whilst conducting these three BeeWalks, it became quite obvious that my chances of finding either the Brown-banded or Moss-carder bee on this side of the Taw estuary were going to be slim indeed. The reason behind this, I believe centres on the availability of forage for these species. Whilst the southern side of the Taw has some suitable habitat it is very patchy, with pasture and arable being the primary land uses.
At HFM, the Gaia Trust and its volunteers, together with support from the West Country Buzz team, have over the last couple of years taken a number of steps to enhance the forage including:
- The planting of Vipers Bugloss along one small section of the estuary which has been greatly appreciated by the Common carders.
- The Environment Agency deferring the grass cutting of the western and eastern flood banks until late August/September. In addition the HFM volunteers removed the cuttings from the eastern flood bank to encourage the wildflowers – no mean feat given this bank is nearly 250 metres in length! As a consequence of this later cutting the number of bumblebees observed during the August BeeWalk increased from 7 in 2019 to 140 in 2020.
- The later cutting of the flower meadow by the tenant farmer – interestingly this appears to have encouraged the honeybees from local hives rather than the bumblebees. Will be monitored in future years to see how this progresses.
- Changes to the flower seed mix used in the nectar field on HFM to reflect more native species. This has resulted in more bumblebees being observed on the BeeWalks this year.
Having been encouraged by the work on HFM, I am now expanding my horizons to investigate some other areas close to me, including a small recently sown wildflower meadow and a local nature reserve both in Fremington, where I feel that small changes in their management may result in better forage for bumblebees. You never know but one day these might result in me or my bee spotter wife finding that elusive brown banded carder on the southern side of the Taw estuary!
