Bretby’s bid to help the humble bumble

05 June 2009

Not to be confused with the honey bee (Apis mellifera), the bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) is a large, docile, noisy, black and yellow flying insect which makes only enough honey to feed its small colony.

The bumble bee lives in small nests no bigger than half a grapefruit in holes in grassy banks and sheltered places such as undisturbed sheds and old nest boxes and all but the new queen bumble bees die naturally with the first frosts of winter.

Planters at Bretby Garden centre Manager Nick Fairbrother said: “There are 19 species of bumble bee in the UK, they are incredibly important in the reproductive life of plants; as pollinators they visit a wider range of flowers than other bee species and often at different times of the day. Bumblebees can carry up to 60% of their body weight in pollen and they can sting too, but will only do so if provoked so there’s really no need to be afraid. If you are in the garden and one hovers near, just keep fairly still and it will choose to ignore you.

“Just like honey bees, bumble bees are suffering from the effects of intensive farming, the use of pesticides, and the loss of their natural habitats of flower rich meadows. That’s why at Bretby we’re making a big effort to tell visitors about bumble bees and encouraging everyone to help us help them.

“We want to make it easy for people to help the bumble bee’s plight. We are more than happy to take the time to advise on what flowers can be planted to attract bees to your garden. So we can all make a difference and stop them from becoming extinct. Lee our Plant Supervisor is always on hand to help, just pop down and find out how you can easily join the drive to save the humble bumble.”

Bretby sells special boxes for bumble bees to nest in and bee nesting cylinders to attract non-aggressive Red Mason bees.

Nick added: “It’s very important that we see bees as allies in the garden and far from being afraid of them, we should do everything we can to help them thrive”.

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