Bee Walking is part of a scheme run by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust which is intended to monitor populations of these important pollinators, several of which seem to be in trouble.
Our walks involve a circuit of about a mile in Mandale Park, close to the town centre. To keep results comparable, they take place at the same date each month, in our case as close to the 27th as possible. The good news is that the instructions tell us only to survey in fine weather when the bees are most active, so we have a pleasant walk and see other things as well as the bees.
We would welcome more members of the team; no expertise is needed as only four species of bee are common and all of them are distinct.
Signing up doesn’t commit you to coming out each month; there are usually ten or a dozen names on the list and three is enough for a satisfactory survey.
If you would like to be involved, please contact Pamela Jackson or click here to send us a message and we’ll put you on the list.
About the 20th of each month, Pamela starts looking at the long-distance weather forecast to see which days look promising. She then emails everyone and sort out a fine day when enough people are available.
