Bee the Change: let’s start a movement!
“A world where bumblebees are thriving and valued by everyone” is the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s vision for the future and we invite you to join us in making this a reality. Many people already have, by becoming members or volunteers, but we know, in our often-hectic modern lives, that not everyone always has money or time to spare.
Here’s where Bee the Change microactions come in.
Credit: Kathryn Graves
What is a microaction?
Microactions are small deliberate actions that, over time, build towards achieving big results. Their beauty lies in their simplicity and their ability to inspire others.
For example, one hanging basket planted with bumblebee-friendly plants isn’t going to avert the nature crisis by itself, but that one hanging basket might provide nectar for hungry bumblebees and pollen to feed growing bumblebee larvae. An eye-catching hanging basket could also inspire someone else to plant their own hanging basket or pot, which in turn might inspire others. You see where we’re going? Over time, with each person taking small actions, we have a positive move towards flowers, bumblebees and other wildlife cascading along a street and through a community.
Perhaps one hanging basket can help avert the nature crisis after all, by building a movement. We need someone to start that movement, and we think that’s you!
What microactions can I take?
We’d thought you’d never ask!
Here’s our microaction ideas for how you can Bee the Change for bumblebees. We’ve grouped them into four areas to get you started.
- Gardening – create the habitat that bumblebees need
- Fundraising – help us to help bumblebees!
- Advocacy – speak up for bumblebees
- Volunteering – learn or share some bumblebee goodness
Gardening – create the habitat that bumblebees need
From town centre window ledges and balconies to suburban gardens and community green spaces, everyone can help create the places that bumblebees need to thrive.
- Plant a bumblebee-friendly plant in the ground, window box, hanging basket or pot. Check out our monthly planting guides for inspiration.
- Allow dandelions and other wildflowers aka ‘weeds’ to grow. Embrace the colour and variety that nature provides for free.
- Water your plants so they keep producing nectar and pollen. Bumblebees get all their fluids from flowers so it’s important to water plants in dry weather.
- Deadheading! Sounds a little extreme but removing faded flowers encourages plants to produce new flowers to feed hungry bumblebees.
- Add bumblebee nest spots. Put up a bird box, with some dried grass or other insulating material inside, to encourage Tree bumblebees to nest. Create a log or rock pile, with gaps inside, for a nest searching queen Red-tailed bumblebee to find in spring.
Fundraising – help us to help bumblebees!
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is a charity and relies on funding and donations. By raising money, you can help us work with farmers to create more and better habitat, inspire children to learn about and love bumblebees, and help policy makers understand how to protect them. Whatever your budget, there’s something you can do to help.
- Make a one off or recurring donation to suit your budget.
- Buy a family member or friend a gift membership to mark a special occasion. They’ll receive a welcome pack and regular news from us throughout the year.
- Visit our online shop. You’ll find simple ID guides, pin badges, hoodies and more!
- Suggest your employer makes the Trust their charity of the year. Share our Bee the Change Business Guide.
- Raise funds when you shop online. From grocery shopping to car insurance, you can raise vital funds every time you shop online. Simply sign up to one or more of these fantastic platforms: Easy Fundraising, Give As You Live, Savoo, Pennies.
Advocacy – speak up for bumblebees
Bumblebees don’t have a voice but we can all spread the word about what they need and when they need it.
- Follow us on social media and share our posts with others.
- Inspire others and share our Bee the Change planting guides and other resources with anyone who might be interested – family, friends, colleagues and local community growing groups.
- Proclaim your support for bumblebees by signing up to the Bee the Change pledge and receive regular updates about our work and how you can help. Share it with others too!
- Stay away from pesticides. Leaving weedkillers and bug sprays on the shelf is one of the best things you can do to help bumblebees. Your actions can speak louder than words sometimes!
- Head to our Campaigning for bumblebees page for all the current ways to help.
Volunteering – learn or share some bumblebee goodness
Invest some time in doing good things for bumblebees and people, including yourself!
- Visit our YouTube channel and learn about bumblebees. Discover how bumblebees evolved, understand what pollination is, and explore how to identify and survey bumblebees.
- Help build a picture of when and where bumblebees are active by recording them on the iRecord app. Just download the app, take a photo of a bumblebee and upload it. It’ll even give you suggestions of which species it is so perfect for boosting your ID skills.
- Tell your local schools about our Bumblebee-friendly Schools Award. A perfect way to inspire the next generation.
- Make seed balls to use at home or give away to others. What could be better than a homemade bumblebee-friendly gift?
- Tell us what you’ve been doing for bumblebees. We’d love to hear about and share your stories with others through our e-news, blogs and social media. Get in touch at beethechange@bumblebeeconservation.org or tag us using #BeeTheChange on social media.
Got more time? Why not give these a go:
- Carry out a bumblebee-friendly survey of your garden or outdoor space. Draw yourself a bird’s eye view map (don’t worry, no artistic skill required) and mark out which plants are in flower during the seasons. Aim to have at least one bumblebee-friendly plant in flower from early spring all the way through to late autumn. If you spot any flower gaps, use our gardening resources to plan some new additions. Got it covered already? Let us know and help inspire others!
- Take on a Pollin8 fundraising challenge. Whether you Navig8 eight peaks in a week, Celebr8 with a bake sale, or Cre8 bumblebee-themed crafts, you’ll be part of our buzzing community of fundraisers, all doing something brilliant for bumblebees. There’s something for everyone!
- Get in touch with your local authority to advocate on behalf of your local bumblebees. Ask them what they’re doing to support pollinators in your area and if there are any opportunities to get involved.
- Volunteer your time and help bumblebees in your community while keeping costs low by joining or starting a local plant or seed swap group. Check out our resources for which plants and seeds are best.
Thank you!
If we all work together, we will create a world where bumblebees are thriving and valued by everyone.
Don’t forget to let us know what you’ve been up to. Email beethechange@bumblebeeconservation.org or tag us with #BeeTheChange on social media.
BeeWalk data sharing policy
Review our Beewalk national bumblebee monitoring scheme website and data policy to understand how your information is collected, used and stored.
BeeWalk guidance manual
Guide to BeeWalk, our long-term national recording scheme to monitor the abundance of bumblebees on fixed routes (transects) across Great Britain. These transects would be impossible without BeeWalk volunteers, who identify and count the bumblebees on their chosen route each month from March to October.
BeeWalk habitat and land use list
Habitat and land use list for BeeWalks. For assistance choosing habitat categories, please email beewalk@bumblebeeconservation.org
BeeWalk health and safety guidance
Guidance on carrying out bumblebee surveys with your health and safety in mind.
BeeWalk monthly recording form
Download our BeeWalk recording form for you to record the bumblebees you see on your walk.
BeeWalk site description form
Use this form to split your transect into at least three sections and identify the habitat and land use types for each.
Habitat and land use site details
Habitat and land use site details form for BeeWalks. For assistance on using this form, please email beewalk@bumblebeeconservation.org
Shop our Mother’s Day gift guide!
Whether it’s for mum, grandma, nanny, or the mother-figure in your life, our gift guide has got something for everyone!
Shop from our business supporters
Our business supporters generously donate a portion of their profits to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. By purchasing from them, you’ll be supporting our vital work to save the UK’s bumblebees!
Shop our Teemill range
We have a bee-rilliant selection of clothing, homewares and accessories sold through our Teemill site. These print on demand products help to reduce wastage, and everything is made from organic materials using renewable energy. Proceeds from your purchase goes towards the work of the Trust.
Shop the Bumblebee Conservation Trust shop
One of the easiest ways to support the Trust is to shop directly through our online store. From books and cards, to pin badges and seeds, you’re sure to find something to give to mum that gives back to bumblebees too!
Gift Membership
Give the gift of a year’s membership to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust! Your loved one will receive a welcome pack buzzing with a pin badge, car sticker, wildflower seeds, and more, plus we’ll send our ‘Buzzword’ membership magazine three times a year.
Where are all the bumblebees?
Science Manager, Dr Richard Comont, gives us an insight into why we’ve been seeing less bumblebees this year.
As the years roll by, there tends to be one thing that happened during the year that attaches itself as a label. 2020 was the year of Covid, 2022 was the 40°C heatwave. For a lot of people, 2024 was The Year of No Bees.
It all started off so well. Back in early March the skies were blue and queen bumblebees were emerging from their winter dormancy in high numbers – in fact, several species reached record numbers in March or April. But then the wheels came off. In June, volunteers across our BeeWalk network were recording around 11 bumblebees for every kilometre they walked. In a ‘normal’ year, they would be recording 21, almost twice as many. 2024 stood out as the worst June count on record.
Some species were faring even worse. The Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) is a widespread and common species, understatedly beautiful with a jet-black body and bright red tail. The flight season started well, with around a third more sightings of overwintered queens than usual in March and April. But then – nothing happened.
Red-tailed bumblebee © Jade Oliver
In a normal year, those queens would find themselves a nest site and start producing workers in May, with numbers ramping up in June and staying high through July and August, workers gradually give way to males and new queens. During 2024 they just never managed to get going. In June, sightings were 83% down. Instead of seeing a Red-tail every 250-300 metres, BeeWalkers were only seeing one individual every two kilometres.
The immediate cause seems to have been the weather. After that burst of early-spring sunshine, the spring and early summer settled down into a pattern of dull, gloomy, damp days interspersed with heavy rain. This makes life incredibly difficult for bumblebees, especially in the early stages of nesting where the queen has to balance finding a nest site, foraging for herself, foraging for her developing offspring, and incubating her brood. Cool, damp weather means the queens spend more energy keeping themselves and their brood warm, which increases the need for foraging but decreases the time available for it.
To make things even more difficult, that foraging would have become more difficult in the poor weather. Food from flowers is less accessible on cold, damp days, especially as flowers close up or get damaged in heavy rain.
Unfortunately, the BeeWalk numbers show that many queens didn’t manage to walk this tightrope and nest successfully.
How can I help bumblebees?
In response to our latest BeeWalk data, we’ve launched an urgent appeal to help secure a future for bumblebees. We can’t control the weather, but we can:
- Make habitats more resilient to climate change
- Influence decision makers to prioritise pollinators, not pesticides
- Lead the fight to secure a future for bumblebees
By donating to our appeal, you’ll be helping to secure a future for our bumblebees.
