Herefordshire Meadows members have had three opportunities to learn how to identify the 8 common bumblebees this summer with Richard Comont of Bumblebee Conservation and Hayley Herridge of Beelines. Thanks to both for great days in the field and to National Trust and Herefordshire Wildlife Trust for hosting us and allowing to trample some hay whilst wielding our nets.

Netting bumblebees in a meadow can be learned in an hour or so

Using a beekeepers queen cage to hold bee still while you identify it

Richard has generously shared his presentations on Bumblebee ecology and surveying and Basic bumblebee ID for anyone who wants a refresher from the courses and for beginners too. They have details of where to buy nets and tubes and where to download ID guides.

Our Meadow Making pilots are doing BEEWALK surveys before the treatment of their meadows in 2019 and we’d like to encourage anyone with a meadow to do the same. Guidance is available on how to get started.

Whether you are going to do a full transect across your farm or just one meadow you can enter the data yourself on BEEWALK. Or please send us your data and we can start to build up a baseline of information about bumblebees on our meadows and farms.

For further help please contact Caroline Hanks or Sue Holland