Carder bees

Here's two pictures of firstly a B. muscorum worker and secondary a B. humilis in a queen catcher to chech for black hairs!

Red clover

Simon Wright with his red clover margins he left over from his hay cut to provide long term foraging for bumblebees.

Farm visits

Hello everyone
 
Well its been an odd year for the bumblebees with overall numbers down on all our transects. We think the harsh winter, followed by a slow spring and then the drought didn't help the bees with finding enough nectar and pollen. However we have had some very good news from the marsh and surrounding areas. I held a bumblebee farm day event a few weeks back and have since been round to visit some of the farmers. Here's some pictures of some of the farms I have visited. Firstly the red clover fields at the Deans and Simon Wrights red clover margin (which he left from after hay making). Most hay making on the marsh has now taken place but there are still places on the marsh which offer late foraging for the later emerging species. The wind farm is ones of these. Newly seeded this year, it has had an amazing number of the moss carder bee, Bombus muscorum , foraging on the red clover. In fact this year the number of B. humilis and B. muscorum found in new locations has risen. This is great news for these fantastic and rare bees. This highlights the areas of Romney marsh across East Sussex and Kent as really important habitats for these bee species. 
 
Till next time

Bumblebee event sign

Many thanks to Louise Barton and her family for hosting this years bumblebee garden event

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Bumblebee garden event pictues

Here's some more pictures of the day

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bumblebee garden party

Hello
 
Well we had a wonderful day yesterday for the first bumblebee garden event. We were so pleased with how many people came along, we think over 120, so many thanks to all who joined us. The weather held up, although it was a bit windy but to be expected at Dungeness. Louise Barton opened up her garden to show all the amazing range of flowers and plants she has for bumblebees. In fact Louise had over 10 bumblebee species foraging in her garden, which is an amazing number, she even has the rare Bombus humilis (brown banded carder bee). It really shows what you can attract in your garden by planting the right flowers. On the lavender we also saw a humming bird hawk moth. By planting flowers and plants for bumblebees you can also attract many species of moths, butterflies and other invertebrates. If you choose wildflowers in your garden this also helps their conservation, in the UK we have lost over 97% of our wildflower meadows, species such as red clover, foxglove, knapweeds, catmint and vipers bugloss are brilliant for our bees! 

I have also had a great couple of weeks following on from our bumblebee farm day event. I have visited a few of the farmers which came along to the event and seen the wonderful areas they have created for bumblebees. I shall report more on this next time.....

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Bumblebee walk at Hastings

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Hastings country park

Dear all
 
I undertook a bumblebee walk and talk with Hasting country park yesterday and saw all the wonderful work that the reserve has done. By careful management of livestock and the spreading of green hay they have been able to create fantastic wild flower meadows. They have fields full of red and white clover, tufted vetch, yellow vetchling, thistles and birds foot trefoil. We saw a good variety of bees foraging including the solitary bee the long horned bee. I would definitely recommend visiting the reserve as its a great example of what can be done with careful thought.
 
This coming week I am visiting a few farmers to talk about land creation, completing one of our fortnightly transects across Romney marsh, and setting up for our first ever bumblebee garden event which will take place on Saturday. It looks set to be an interesting week! Keep posted on how things go...
 
Till next time

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Farm day trailers

 

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Bumblebee farm day event

Dear all
 
On Monday we had our second bumblebee farm day event. This is a chance for local farmers to come along and ask any questions they may have about their agri-environment schemes (entry and higher level stewardship) and how these schemes can help bumblebees. Chris Strangeways very kindly hosted the event at Bosney farm, Iden, East Sussex, http://www.ryemarket.eclipse.co.uk/bosneyfarm/index.htm. It was a fantastic afternoon with many farmers coming along. We first started with some lunch and then moved onto talks by myself, Chris and Stephen Podd of FWAG. We then jumped onto trailers and drove round Chris's farm to show examples of what can be done for bumblebees. I was really pleased with the number of people who came along and many thanks to Chris for letting us host the event at Bosney farm.

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