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Help save the bumblebeeGet more buzz from your garden! |
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Help save the bumblebeeGet more buzz from your garden! |
| Over the past seventy years, many kinds of
bumblebees have become increasingly scarce; and two species have become
extinct. Those species which have remained commonplace have been able to
use gardens to provide part of their habitat.
However, we cannot afford to leave the continued existence of these attractive and harmless insects to chance. By growing suitable plants and providing a haven for bumblebees in our gardens we can help safeguard future populations. |
Why Save the
Bumblebee? Some Common Misconceptions What Do Bumblebees Need from the Environment? Providing Suitable Nesting Areas Make Yours a Better Garden for Bumblebees Providing Food for Bumblebees Further Information |
These attractive, harmless and friendly insects are a source of interest and enjoyment, especially for children.
They are vital for the pollination of soft fruits, beans and flowers; and are able to pollinate at lower temperatures than other insects.
The presence of bumblebees, and the sound of them working, brings gardens to life.
Bumblebees are not aggressive and do not sting unless they feel threatened, such as by being handled roughly or accidentally caught underfoot or in clothing. When first accosted they are more likely to roll over on their backs and wave their legs at you.
Unlike social wasps and honey bees who have a thousand or more workers, a bumblebee colony only has one or two hundred. There simply aren't enough spare workers to waste resources attacking potential threats; they will leave humans alone.
The nests only last for one year and will not be used again.
Bumblebee colonies are started anew at the beginning of each season by a single queen, who will have hibernated underground during the winter in a cool undisturbed place. The queen seeks out a suitable location for the new colony. While there may be plenty of potential nest sites - perhaps an abandoned mouse hole or shrew's nest - whether or not the colony survives the first perilous weeks will depend on the quality of the surrounding forage.
The greater the number of suitable flowering plants in your garden, the better it will please bumblebees. The following table suggests suitable plants and the main flowering times which will help get you started in planning a bumblebee diner! You do not need all of these but it is a good idea to have a least two kinds of plant for each flowering period. If you notice bumblebees visiting other plants in your garden, you could make a list of these to pass on to your friends. We can't have too many bumblebee diners!
The colony needs nectar as a fuel for the adult and pollen for the developing larvae. Bumblebees will fly half a mile or more from the nest to find these, searching for new supplies when the old ones run out.
A constant supply of food must always be present in the foraging area during the lifespan of the colony, between April and September. At the end of its life, the colony produces new males and females and after mating, the new queens hibernate.
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Gardens provide:
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The first step is to provide lots of the right kinds of plants. In the spring the nest-searching queens will be attracted to gardens where they can find plenty of food. If you watch a queen looking for a nest site, you will soon understand what she is looking for. When searching she flies low over the ground in a zig-zag pattern. She will stop to investigate piles of leaves, tussocks of grass or piles of dead (but not rotting) vegetation. What she is looking for is an old mouse or vole nest which will make a warm starting place.
If you keep an area of permanently taller grass along a hedge bottom there is a good chance that old vole nests will be present. Otherwise, you can provide starter nests by putting a tennis ball-size lump of dry moss and Kapok (or other natural plant fibre) at the end of holes poked into a bank; at the edge of a hedge; under flower pots (make sure the bees can find their way in!) or under pieces of metal sheeting lying on the surface of the ground in tall grass. The more starter nests you can provide, the more likely it is that they will be found and used.
Nest boxes for bumblebees are also available commercially but their success is very variable.
Bumblebees use pollen and nectar from many different garden plants to feed themselves and their young. To provide the perfect environment for bumblebees in your garden it is important to ensure that the flowering times of suitable plants cover the whole bumblebee season from March to August.
The table below shows some plants that bumblebees use. You don't need to have all of them but it is a good idea to have at least two of these kinds of plant for each flowering period, to help the bees
| March and April | May and June | July and August |
| Berberis Bluebell Bugle Comfrey Flowering Currant Lungwort Pussy Willow Rhododendron Rosemary Dead-nettle Heathers |
Aquilegia Borage Campanula Comfrey Everlasting Pea Geranium Foxglove Honeysuckle Monkshood Stachys Thyme |
Cornflower Delphinium Fuchsia Hebe Lavender Rock-rose Scabious Sedyum (iceplant) Sea Holly Heathers |
More information can be obtained from English Nature, who have produced a leaflet entitled "Help save the bumblebee - get more buzz from your garden".
Their address is: Northminster House, Peterborough PE1 1UA
Telephone: 01733 455100
The web site of English Nature is: www.english-nature.org.uk