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Project manager, Carol Edmondson, who completed a Masters thesis on bumblebees in Bowland in 2016 said: “The abundance of bumblebees in the restored meadows shows that, overall, the restored meadows are supporting the bumblebee numbers that would be expected in a florally diverse, traditionally managed meadow.
In other words, the restoration work has been successful in terms of effectively expanding the available food resource for this valuable and vulnerable pollinator.
“Being able to monitor the bumblebee population so closely over such an extended period has given us an insight into the needs of our increasingly vulnerable pollinators, together with amazingly detailed information about the wildflower species and habitats they depend upon to thrive.
“When I was asked if I’d like to manage the programme back in 2016, I couldn’t quite believe I was going to get paid for working in the field I’d chosen to specialise in for my Masters. Collecting and analysing the data over a decade has been such a fulfilling experience.
“It’s a tribute to the commitment of our volunteers who turn out every year to count bees and patiently record their observations and to the unstinting support of our funding partners, who have underwritten monitoring and meadow restoration projects in various forms since 2014.”
For further information, or to become a ‘beewalker’ visit: www.forestofbowland.com/Hay-Time-Project
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