Intermediate-level bumblebee identification & monitoring training

Join Science Manager Dr Richard Comont for an afternoon of bumblebee monitoring and identification. This event is suitable for those who already have a basic grasp of bumblebee ID.

We’ll dig into how the Trust monitor bumblebee populations, and how you can get involved through the BeeWalk scheme and the PoMS FIT Counts survey. Moving onto identification, we’ll briefly cover how to identify bumblebees as a group, and how to pick them out of all the other flying buzzing insects that call Britain home. Then we’ll move onto field identification of the 24 bumblebee species currently resident in the UK, including the ‘Big 8’ common species, the 6 cuckoo bumblebees, and the remaining 10 scarce & rare bumblebee species. We’ll also cover field equipment and ID guides.

This session will last for around three hours (including a break and the chance to ask questions), and will be delivered over Microsoft Teams.