Successful bumblebee course 2020

Successful bumblebee course 2020

On the 15th and 16th we invited India Wedge over to run a two day training course on pollinator identification. The Sponsorship for the Countryside enhancement scheme allowed the JBC to run this course at a huge discount to the attendees. Held at Jersey Zoo classroom and grounds we spent two days surveying their pollinator patches.

Saturday was dedicated to bumblebee identification, we found lots of males of Bombus terrestris terrestris, Buff tailed bumblebees, Bombus lapidaries, Red-tailed bumblebees and males and females of Bombus pascuorum flavidus, Common carder bumblebee. India helped the participants catch the bees so we could view their features up close allowing us to differentiate between males and females.

Our second day was dedicated to other pollinators species and orders. We visited the same pollinator patches but allowed our species focus to open up to all insect orders. We found Horney hoverflies, Red Admiral butterflies, Rosemary beetles and blood bee species along with lots more.

We would like to thank India for making the trip over, all the participants for their enthusiasm and hard work, the Countryside enhancement scheme for the sponsorship and for Jersey Zoo for allowing us to run around their grounds for the weekend.  We had to limit the number of spaces due to Covid 19 restriction and the room size, however we will be running this training in the future due to its popularity.

looking at bees
Author
Sarah Maguire