This one-day course led by Dr Richard Comont from The Bumblebee Conservation Trust will provide an introduction to bee identification with a focus on bumblebees. Learn about bumblebee ecology, the basics of recognising bees and how to identify eight common bumblebee species. Gain all the skills needed to carry out a BeeWalk including planning a transect and recording and submitting your results.

What is a BeeWalk? BeeWalk is a national recording scheme run by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to monitor the abundance of bumblebees on transects across the country.

Programme

09.30 Arrivals and refreshments

10.00 Bumblebee Ecology and Surveying. This covers background on bumblebees, how/why/why to survey them, including the latest results from the BeeWalk and how you can get involved.

11.00 Refreshments

11.15 Bumblebee Identification. This covers identification of bumblebees, starting at the beginning and making sure that your bee is a bumblebee and not one of the other flower-visiting fly or bee species, and focusing on the 'Big 8' - the widespread and abundant species that make up 95-99% of the bumblebees that you'll see on a day-to-day basis. Also covers helpful equipment and books.

12.30 Lunch

13.30 Field Session in Three Hagges Woodmeadow. Opportunity to go outside and practice catching and identifying bumblebees

15.30-16.00 Finish