West Country Buzz

West Country Buzz finishes in March and we have made some fantastic achievements for bumblebees: 🐝 Brown-banded carder bees found at 17 new sites 🪻 Over 187 ha of habitat created 🚜Advised 118 landowners on 150 sites 🔍1,170 people attended ID days 🥾27 BeeWalks @BumblebeeTrust

We've carried out lots of green hay spreading during West Country Buzz - find out what green hay is and how it helps bumblebees with our short video👇 youtube.com/watch?v=eKqauA… A quick guide to green hay (youtube.com) @BumblebeeTrust

West Country Buzz finishes next month and we have made some fantastic achievements! 🐝🌸🪻🌼 Check out our video showcasing this North Devon bumblebee project 👇 youtube.com/watch?v=GJFJ24… @BumblebeeTrust

We were pleased to hear our rare target species the Brown-banded carder bee mentioned in parliament this week, in a discussion about legal protection for hedgerows and their importance for wildlife, along with flowery road verges: tinyurl.com/3c2ym9j6 🐝🌿🦋 @BumblebeeTrust

A brilliant day helping out with vital scrub clearance on Braunton Burrows with @ndevoncoastnl contributing to the amazing work done by @dynamicdunes💪 Keeping on top of the scrub will allow the beautiful and diverse wildflowers to flourish! 🌸 @CentreBraunton @BumblebeeTrust

A big thank you to everyone who came to our West Country Buzz end of project celebration event last night at @CentreBraunton, it was a fitting finish to a fantastic project with some great achievements made with the help of everyone who has been involved! 🐝👏 @BumblebeeTrust

⚠️For the 4th year in a row, the UK Government has green lighted the use of a banned bee-harming pesticide against their own expert advice⚠️ It's time to break the cycle & prioritise sustainable farming over wildlife harming🐝#PollinatorsNotPesticides 📰 ow.ly/fN9L50Qsvz6

It has been a busy 2023 for West Country Buzz! 🐝Brown-banded carder bees found at 5 new sites 🚜Over 30ha of pollinator habitat has been created 🥾159 people attended ID Days in the field 🧑‍🌾52 people attended Farm Days Thank you to everyone involved this year! @BumblebeeTrust

The second offering in our series of #COP28 #ClimateChange blogs is written for us by @BumblebeeTrust @BuzzingDevon Conservation Officer, Jamie Buxton-Gould. 🐝 How is #ClimateChange impacting our bees? Let's find out! 👇 buglife.org.uk/blog/ivy-bees-… #LoveBees #Pollinators

Planting some wetland edge species to give bumblebees a boost today - Water mint and Purple loosestrife are excellent species that thrive around pond edges and flower into late summer🌸💧 @BumblebeeTrust

“I’ve never actually seen a queen bee!” Can you remember the first time you saw a bumblebee? Share your bumblebee story below 🐝 Watch the full video🎥 ow.ly/3gcg50Q9syC

Great results from a volunteer day yesterday at Home Farm Marsh - we cleared long grasses & scrub to give space for wildflowers that are present & sowed Yellow rattle too. This is where Brown-banded carder bees have been spotted & will hopefully give them a boost! @BumblebeeTrust

🎥🐝Throwback to our August Bumblebee ID Day on Braunton Burrows with this fantastic video created by @CentreBraunton Connect 2 Nature: youtube.com/watch?v=pPHW0J… @BumblebeeTrust

@SolitaryBeeWeek Bee! Osmia auralenta? We were lucky to find one of their vacated nest shells in our project area this year!

This week we worked with local ecologist and volunteer Steve at Lovell's Field LNR to enhance the meadow with native wildflowers, including Yellow rattle to help suppress vigorous grasses. Thanks @ndevoncouncil for preparing the ground ready for sowing! 🌱 @BumblebeeTrust

We've been doing more seed sowing to enhance meadows and pond habitats on a local organic farm - a mixture of hand collected seed and a @GorenFarm mix containing a range of bumblebee-friendly wildflowers 🫴🌼🐝🌸 Can't wait to see them grow! @BumblebeeTrust

Seed sowing to create a new meadow! 🌸🐝Yesterday we sowed wildflower seed at Tapeley Park to create a flowery meadow to benefit pollinators and other wildlife! Creating bare ground is important as is rolling after sowing to ensure the seed can germinate well 🚜🌻 @BumblebeeTrust

We've sown some wetland wildflower seeds at Home Farm Marsh to enhance the newly created waterways here - with species including Purple loosestrife, Figwort, Flag iris and Water mint, there should be lots of flowers to keep the bumblebees happy! 😀🐝@BumblebeeTrust

The UK’s wildlife is continuing to decline according to the State of Nature Report 2023. Since 1970, pollinators such as bees, hoverflies and moths, have decreased by 18% on average. 54% of flowering plants across Great Britain have decreased in where they are found.

Only a few days left! ⏰ Can you help us reach our target to raise £26,000 for bumblebees by Saturday? Together, we can achieve great things for bumblebees! Don’t delay, donate today 🐝 #SaveTheBees ow.ly/lhMk50PPf0w