Bumblebees are among the most endearing and familiar of our insects. Sadly, changes to the farmed countryside have not been kind to our bumblebees. The number of species found in most of lowland Britain has halved since 1950. Within the last 70 years two bumblebee species have become nationally extinct. Further extinctions may follow in the near future unless we act quickly. The reason that bumblebees have declined in the countryside is simple. Bees feed exclusively on pollen and nectar, and there are far fewer flowers in the countryside than there once were.

Bumblebees are fascinating and beautiful creatures that deserve conserving in their own right. However, there are also pressing ecological and economic reasons to halt their declines. Bumblebees are major pollinators of a majority of our wildflowers. If this wonderful little invertebrate continues to disappear, a vast number of our native wildflowers will set less seed which will result in sweeping changes to the countryside. Bumblebees are keystone species and they should be a conservation priority. Bumblebees are also of enormous commercial importance. Many arable and horticultural crops depend on bumblebees for pollination to varying degrees. In total the value of Europe's insect pollinators is estimated at €14.2 billion! Lots of plants, both familiar garden flowers and wildflowers, provide nectar and pollen for bumblebees and other insects. There is a popular misconception that a wildlife garden has to be untidy, overgrown and full of nettles and brambles however this is completely false (although brambles are a favorite with bumblebees!). Bumblebees, butterflies and

Photo Copyright Bumblebee Conservation Trust

other wildlife aren't concerned about whether your garden is tidy or not, so long as it provide them with food and shelter. It is perfectly possible to have a garden that is both beautiful and a haven for wildlife. However, many of the garden flowers that are widely sold provide little or nothing for wildlife, so successful wildlife gardening is about growing the right kinds of flowers.

It’s also worth bringing up the age old debate regarding insecticide use in our gardens. If you do decide to use them, it’s certainly best to avoid spraying them near flowering plants. There are actually very few situations in which it is necessary to use insecticides in a garden; left to nature, natural enemies such as ladybirds, hoverflies, ground beetles, lacewings and wasps will usually consume troublesome aphids or caterpillars before long, but if you wipe them out with insecticides you can expect worse pest problems in the very near future.

If you wish to have happy bees, most annual bedding plants are best avoided: for example Pelargonium, Begonia, busy lizzies, pansies, petunias, lobelias and the like have been subjected to extreme artificial selection by plant breeders to produce larger, more spectacular blooms in a huge variety of colours, but in the process the flowers have often lost the vital nectar that attracts bees, or the shape of the flower has become so deformed that insects can no longer reach the nectar or pollen. In extreme cases the flowers are sterile and produce no pollen at all. Double varieties with extra sets of petals are often impossible for insects to get in to: this is very obvious with some types of rose.

Photo Copyright Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Old-fashioned cottage garden flowers such as aquilegia, geraniums, globe thistles and borage are generally far better. There are countless useful culinary herbs too: for example lavender, chives, marjoram, sage and rosemary are all loved by bees. Herbs and other cottage garden flowers are often very similar to the wild flowers from which they originated, and so have not lost their natural link with their pollinators. They are also pretty robust, easy to grow, and most are perennials so that you do not have to plant them every year. Most grow well in a traditional herbaceous border, while if you have only a small space they will grow well in pots on a patio or even in a window box.

Bumblebees and their young eat only nectar and pollen, and so are entirely dependent on an adequate supply of the right kinds of flowers through the year. Thus to provide the perfect environment for bumblebees in the garden it is important to ensure that there are suitable plants flowering throughout the bumblebee season (from March to August). The greater the number of suitable flowering plants in your garden, the better it will please bumblebees.

To learn more about the fascinating world of bumblebees and The Bumblebee Conservation trust please check out www.bumblebeeconservation.org