Orchard Network

Bumblebees and other wild bees are very important for pollination in orchards. There are currently 24 species of bumblebee in the UK, six of which of still common and widespread but many of which are rare and declining. This is due mainly to the overwhelming loss of wildflower-rich grasslands in the UK (estimated at over 97% loss since 1940). This includes the grasslands under Traditional Orchards that were cut for hay each year and supported a wealth of wildflowers.

Bumblebees are very hardworking pollinators - working from dawn until dusk and in cloudy and cool conditions. Because bumblebees have a wide variety of tongue lengths, including several very long-tongued species, they are able to pollinate a wide variety of crops and wildflowers, including those with deep flowers.

Management

Provide additional foraging and nesting habitats in and around orchards - hedges and rough margins are ideal. Avoid cutting them between April and September to provide foraging late in to the summer.

Beneficial management of the grassland includes annual hay cutting or late summer grazing with no fertiliser inputs. Let the sward grow long from May through until late July or August.

Sowing wildflower seed into the sward or in strips around the orchard can provide additional forage and boost pollination. Pollen and nectar rich plants such as red clover, bird's-foot-trefoil and common knapweed are ideal

Downloads

A guide to managing orchards for Bumblebees (PDF produced by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust)

National Links

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Factsheet coming soon!

Global Bee Project - a not-for-profit educational organisation that aims to highlight the importance and the decline of wild bees

Image: Bumblebee Conservation Trust/Clive Hill