{"id":5860,"date":"2019-05-06T23:27:09","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T22:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5860"},"modified":"2019-05-06T23:28:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T22:28:20","slug":"pollinators-are-in-serious-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5860","title":{"rendered":"Pollinators Are In Serious Decline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pollinators Are In Serious Decline<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Everyone knows that pollinators, i.e. insects that pollinate our flowers and crops, are in serious decline and we are being encouraged to do everything possible to help them, not least by planting flowers, shrubs and trees that can supply accessible pollen. Typical of the advice that you will find in magazines and the media is that good plants for pollinators are:<\/p>\n

Lavender<\/p>\n

Dahlia<\/p>\n

Wallflower<\/p>\n

Borage<\/p>\n

Foxglove<\/p>\n

… and if you planted these you would certainly be helping wildlife. However it is worth looking beneath the surface as no two lists agree and there is seldom any indication of what research has been done to reach these conclusions.<\/p>\n

We have three main types of bee in this country. First Honeybees, possibly not native but producing honey and living in colonies. Next Bumblebees with which we are all familiar as they are usually large, furry and highly visible. Then there are the Solitary bees of which there are 225 species in Britain. As the name suggests these do not live in hives but individually and you will often see them using our bee hotels. Which raises the next question – do all these types of bees use our recommended plants in equal measure?<\/p>\n

\"\"

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA<\/p><\/div>\n

A five-year research programme by Rosi Rollings has found marked differences in bee preferences. Amongst the garden flowers most visited by Honeybees are Veronicastrum virginicum (Culvers Root) and Sedum spectabile (Ice plant) yet these are largely avoided<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

by Solitary bees. However the latter love Anthemis tinctoria (Golden Marguerite) which is studiously ignored by Honeybees and Bumblebees and also Campanula (Harebell) which is seldom visited by them. Bumblebees will go for Echium vulgare (Vipers Bugloss) but Solitary bees will not go out of their way for them.<\/p>\n

So if you want to favour one category over another you can find more detail on what plants to go for in Rosi’s website -www.rosybee.com. Or you can simply take the top five irrespective of bee type which are:<\/p>\n

Geranium Rozanne<\/p>\n

Calamint<\/p>\n

Helenium autumnale<\/p>\n

Eryngium planum<\/p>\n

Helenium – Sahins Early Flowerer<\/p>\n

Remember to factor in the seasons ideally providing a range of plants that will offer pollen from Spring through to Autumn and finally note that the bees are not remotely interested in whether the plants are native species or not.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pollinators Are In Serious Decline Everyone knows that pollinators, i.e. insects that pollinate our flowers and crops, are in serious decline and we are being encouraged to do everything possible to help them, not least by planting flowers, shrubs and trees that can supply accessible pollen. Typical of the advice that you will find in magazines and the media is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-1ww","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5940,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5940","url_meta":{"origin":5860,"position":0},"title":"A New Home for Pollinators","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st May 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Our latest project involves a piece of land made available to us by the Reader family which we shall use to benefit pollinators - bees, butterflies and other insects. We are all aware of how serious the future is for those insects which help to pollinate crops, flowers and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sm-bee-bee-tree-Wikimedia-Comm.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12788,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12788","url_meta":{"origin":5860,"position":1},"title":"What 2023 Might Spring On Us","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th January 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"WENVOE FORUM Considering tomorrow today Wishing you the best of the Season\u2019s Greetings As the year turns and we wonder what 2023 might spring on us, we wish for you all a space and a place to celebrate the New Year with family and friends, ready to look forward. Here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Picture7-300x270.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12863,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12863","url_meta":{"origin":5860,"position":2},"title":"Bees, Beer, Boilers and Brilliant Brains","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st February 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"WENVOE FORUM Considering tomorrow today Bees, Beer, Boilers and Brilliant Brains Bees Did you know that there are 25 species of bumble bee, 260 species of solitary bee and 1 honey bee species in the UK. These only account for a few of the 500 species of insects that pollinate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15608,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15608","url_meta":{"origin":5860,"position":3},"title":"Hedgerows Are Invaluable","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th May 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hedgerows Are Invaluable You can stand anywhere in the village with a view of the countryside, and you will see hedgerows. Along Port Road, Old Port Road and around the school as well. You could be forgiven for thinking they are common and unthreatened. Yet since 1950 the UK has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Guelder-Rose-1-300x260.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10165,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10165","url_meta":{"origin":5860,"position":4},"title":"National Meadows Week","author":"Alan Williams","date":"24th August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"We celebrated National Meadows Week in July with a 'walk and talk' around the Upper Orchid Field. We are fortunate to have this facility on our doorstep and it is well used by visitors, dog-walkers and joggers whilst providing a haven for wildlife. The UK has lost around 97% of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/OrchidField.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/OrchidField.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/OrchidField.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8419,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8419","url_meta":{"origin":5860,"position":5},"title":"September Improvements","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Wildlife Group September Improvements Continuing with our theme of noticeboards we have erected another donated one, this time from the Community Council for which many thanks. The old noticeboard had been in storage but has been refurbished and installed at the Bee Loud Glade. We now have a total of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5860"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5860"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5863,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5860\/revisions\/5863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}