Page 12 - Bumblebee Conservation Trust Member Magazine Spring 2020

Photos: example of
wildflowers at HMP Foston Foston Hall HM prison asked us back to
Hall; Below: Rhodri Green,
Community Engagement provide the women inmates with some
Officer providing ID training bumblebee identification training. The Trust
to women inmates were delighted to have been invited back and
were really impressed with the positive action
and the many improvements the staff and
inmates had already made in the grounds of
the prison, specifically for bumblebees.
The gardens rich in flowers at HMP Foston
Hall were the perfect location to run an
identification course. However, on a rainy day
Working with prisons in July it was a worry whether there would be
any bumblebees to identify as the weather
was a bit miserable.
to increase habitat for The session started in the garden classroom
and staff and inmates learnt the best tips
on how to identify bumblebees. The women
bumblebees By Sally Cuckney, Project Manager, Pollinating the Peak asked some amazing questions and their
enthusiasm was infectious. After a short
break, the inmates went in to the garden
with nets, bug pots and identification sheets.
The Trust has been busy developing providing food for when the new queen Luckily the sun had come out and so had the
partnerships with the Ministry of Justice bumblebees emerge from hibernation in bumblebees, so armed with their nets and
(MoJ), as prison sites offer a vast Spring, through to nesting and mating to pots, the inmates got straight into catching
opportunity to increase habitats for when the new queens go into hibernation bumblebees like it was second nature and a
bumblebees and other pollinators. in Autumn and so the cycle continues real pleasure to see.
The Pollinating the Peak team were though to the next year. The women found the day very useful
lucky enough to arrange a visit to The staff and inmates at the prisons especially the guidance on gardening for
HMP Foston Hall and HMP Sudbury were very enthusiastic and followed up bumblebees and all the inmates managed to
in Derbyshire. These prisons are on lots of the advice we provided and identify several species of bumblebee too.
already trying to improve their land for made some very positive changes in the
all wildlife, so provided us with a really management of their prison gardens. One inmate said, “Thank you, I have loved it!
good opportunity to offer some specific They implemented a lesser mowing It has been such a different day and I want to
advice for bumblebees on the sites. regime in some parts of the grassed write a diary about the bees I see.”
areas and also planted some wildflower The prison staff were very positive on how
We highlighted the need to provide
good nesting spots, such as long meadows. the training had gone and we left them with Photos: bird’s-foot trefoil by Bex Cartwright;
grasses, but also how important it was Staff from the MoJ and the Trust will be lots of resources so they can continue their
to increase the number of flowers and providing interpretation boards at both identification of bumblebees and planting the Pot and net for bee identification
the length of time bumblebee friendly prison sites in the future, made by the best flowers to attract them into the prison
plants are available. Ideally, it would prisoners to help explain the importance gardens.
be beneficial to provide forage for of the meadow areas and assist in
bumblebees from March to September, bumblebee identification. NB: No photos were permitted on the
day, Photos included in this article are a
representation of the day.
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