Out & About November 2017

OA outdoors

What’s the buzz? Bee a friendly gardener, says WENDY TOBITT from the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust

C an you imagine a garden without wild bees? The sights and sounds of bumblebees buzzing among pollen-laden anthers in open roses or sipping nectar from foxgloves are so evocative of a happy and friendly garden. Historically, bumblebees have thrived in the countryside, but the use of pesticides on crops and the loss of fields, hedgerows and woodlands to development, means there are fewer flowers for bees and other pollinating insects to feed from and fewer places for them to breed and hibernate. Although there are 24 bumblebee species in the UK, we’re likely to see only half-a-dozen of them in our gardens. Even in November you’ll see the common carder bees buzzing about on late flowering honeysuckle. HOW ANDWHY DO BUMBLEBEES BUZZ? Bumblebees vibrate their wings when they fly into and land in an open flower, such as a rose or poppy. We hear the soundwaves of the vibrations, especially when the bee’s wings vibrate against the flower’s anthers, where pollen is stored. This is called buzz pollination. It’s a wonderful thing that only bumblebees do and we can watch it happening. The bee vibrates against the pollen-covered anthers, until they are covered in an explosion of pollen grains. Then the bee will use her mouth and legs to comb the grains from her fur into pollen baskets on her hind legs.

Any grains that miss the baskets will be used to pollinate the next flower she visits. Here are a few tips to attract more bumblebees into your garden, and a chance to enter a competition. Autumn is the best time to plant lots of shrubs that flower at different times of the year, with flowers that bees can get nectar from, these include winter flowering honeysuckle, mahonia and pieris for instant scent and colour in the coming months. Hibernating bumblebees will emerge on warm and sunny days, when they need a top-up of nectar from these flowers to give them energy and help them go back into a dormant state. You can also plant bulbs such as daffodils and crocuses that give bees nectar in springtime, and perennial summer flowers like foxgloves, lavender and hollyhocks.

Buff-tailed bumblebee goes deep into a hollyhock flower Credit Penny Frith

Tree bumblebee enjoying lavender flowers

Tree bumblebee gets into a bramble flower for buzz pollination

Wild Bee Action Pack

www.bbowt.org.uk/whats-on for events throughout November FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT LOCAL WILDLIFE EVENTS Wherever you are, go wild with your local wildlife trust @bbowildlifetrust @bbowt

Wild About Gardens Week activities. Bee creative and share your ideas and photos of bee-friendly gardening to win a prize; download the Wild Bee Action Pack for more ideas about plants for bees http://wildaboutgardensweek.org.uk/downloads

Pictures Penny Frith and Wendy Tobitt

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