KILDARE WILDLIFE WATCH: 21 different types of the humble Bumblebee
Nuala Madigan from the Bog of Allen Nature Centre
The arrival of March marks the start of the National Biodiversity Data Centre Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme.
This scheme runs from March to October each year and is a citizen science initiative asking members of the public to establish a designated bumblebee monitoring route to walk once a month.
When walking the route participants are asked to take a record of the variety of bumblebees observed and submit their sightings to the national monitoring scheme. Ireland’s Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme was established in 2012 and was one of the first of its kind in the world at the time. You are probably familiar already that bumblebees are extremely important for pollination. By monitoring our bumblebee populations, Ireland can identify species in trouble and detect the early warning signs of a general threat to wild bees and to Irish pollination services.
At this time you may not feel confident to identify the different bumblebees, however to give you some encouragement there are only 21 different bumblebees to learn and I always say we can learn about wildlife in our communities no matter what age we are.
To give us all a helping hand to learn for the first time or refresh our bumblebee identification skills the National Biodiversity Data Centre have a free online course which you can access at https://biodiversityireland.ie/iden
tifyingirishbumblebees/lesson.html. Bumblebees live in nests that can range in size from 50-500 depending on the species type. The Queen is the largest bee of her species, the worker bees can vary in size and as their name suggests tend to the nest and forage for pollen. The males look after themselves and don’t help out with nest maintenance as their primary function is to mate with the Queen.
If you would like to attract bumblebees to your garden follow the All Ireland Pollinator planting plan https://pollinators.ie/ this summer. If you are unsure what to plant visit your local garden centre who can offer advice and direct you to the pollinator friendly plants.
If you spot a local wildlife species and would like to learn more send your wildlife image to [email protected].