 We encourage people to let their gardens ‘grow wild’ so that wildflowers flourish, mature and set seed. Grassland habitats in gardens help provide cover and food for insects, and enable insects to complete key parts of their life cycle. This is a practice we have embraced in our own garden for or ARK. Such habitats need to be managed and every year the time comes to decide when to cut the grass. Cutting too early before wildflowers set seed reduces the biodiversity of lawns and grassland areas. Cutting too late results in a thatch of dead plants that also reduces floral diversity. But not cutting at all is the worse option, almost as bad as constant mowing, with vigorous ‘thugs’ such as bramble taking over. When I cut our grass is guided by the weather. This year, with the hot dry spring and summer, many wildflowers have gone to seed early. But we're also playing catch up as last year we failed to cut the grassland areas because of family commitments. I will cut different areas of the garden each week or so through August and into September, but areas intending for sowing wildflower seed should be started now. I’ve been scything and mowing our grassland areas today and I thought I’d share some photos which illustrate the approach we take in case it is of interest to others. Scything is good method for not eradicating insects or other wildlife and if you cut late summer and autumn the adult butterflies and grasshoppers can escape and you don't kill over wintering eggs, larvae or pupae (photo A below).   I use an Austrian scythe, a grass rake, hay fork and a small lawn mower that has seven settings for the height of cut.
I begin by scything areas of long grass and pull excess nettles and dead-head vigorous wildflowers I don't want to cast seed everywhere e.g. hogweed & ragwort (photo A). After scything the next step is raking up (photo B). I would normally leave cuttings on the ground for a few days to allow seeds to drop in patches with lots of wildflowers. But in this part of the garden, we will spread yellow rattle to reduce the vigour of the grasses and a meadow wildflower seed mix to enhance biodiversity. We rake up all the long grass cuttings and pitchfork into our home-made 'hayricks' formed using 3 hazel poles cut from our hedge last winter (photo C). As well as being a great way to dispose of cuttings these mini hay ricks provide a habitat for slow worms, grass snakes, small mammals & insects. The final step is to mow a short sward close to the footpath with a lawn mower (photo D). I collect and remove cuttings, which go into our compost bins, so that wildflowers such as dandelion and daisy can flourish too. During August I will cut again and scarify before sowing wildflower seed. It is always best to sow seeds in autumn. In the final photo (E) you can see how I've cut alternating patches along the edge of the footpath so that I retain long grass habitat down length of the garden for wildlife. This is important cover for grassland species of insect, slow worm, grass snake, field vole, newt & toads... all of which inhabit our wildlife friendly garden. I don't cut all the long grass and meadow areas at the same time because we have lots of grassland butterfly and grasshopper species in our garden.
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 Big Butterfly Count The Betchworth estate has sown over 3300 sq m of wildflower seed in a strip along the east side of the Common Field. In spite of the late sowing, off road bike riders and exceptionally dry weather the wildflowers are now in full bloom – a mix of german camomile, charnock, lambs quarters and corn spinney. The wildflower strip is an important element of the Betchworth and Buckland B-line. It's also an important source of food for pollinators. On a recent visit I counted nearly 40 small and large white butterflies as I walked along the path by the wildflower strip. This movie .catches this moment. A big thank you to the Betchworth Estate. We concluded our bee awareness week with an excellent talk on bumblebee's given by Peter Smith - a beekeeper and amateur entomologist with a self-declared passion for pollinators. The talk was well supported by many members of the 4Bs Nature Group and we were treated to a pacey, vividly illustrated and wonderfully animated exposition of the creatures that we learnt were originally called humblebees - because of the sound they make. Plight of the bumblebee The talk was informative and overwhelmingly positive and we learnt many things from our expert presenter but the serious message was in the title of the tallk, 'Plight of the Bumblebee'. Our bumblebee populations and species richness have been in decline for a long time —particularly since the mid‑20th century, with some range losses of around 30% in certain regions. But 2024 was a particularly bad year for bumblebees. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s Bee-Walk monitoring programme reported that 2024 saw the lowest bumblebee numbers on record, plunging by 22–24% compared with the 2010–2023 average. Two species suffered drastic declines: Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius): –74% White‑tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum s.l.): –60% While other species saw moderate drops: Tree bumblebee: –39% Garden bumblebee: –12.5% Buff‑tailed bumblebee: –9.5% Moss carder bee (B. muscorum): –34% Common carder (B. pascuorum): –16% Notably, some late‑season species increased: Heath bumblebee (B. jonellus): +63% Shrill carder (B. sylvarum): +74%, though concerningly still absent in many remaining sites. The cause of this significant decline is attributed to a cold, wet spring from March through June which caused high queen mortality during the critical colony‑founding period, compounded by ongoing long‑term stresses. This year's weather has been a lot better with warm to hot dry spring and summer so we anticipate some recovery of bumblebee populations. Beyond year on year fluctuations due to weather - climate change and weather extremes are now firmly established drivers of decline: wetter springs, heatwaves, and flooding are disrupting bee phenology, foraging, and nesting. Habitat loss and land-use change remain primary pressures: loss of wildflower-rich meadows, agricultural intensification, and fragmented landscapes reduce both forage and nesting sites. And the use of pesticides and pollution weaken bee health and their resistence to viral attacks, reduce floral resources, and complicate navigation and reproduction. Ironically, keeping bees for honey production - if undertaken on a large scale, can have a negative impact on bumblebee populations. Peter's plea All these issues and more were raised by our speaker and he ended with a plea to cultivate more flowers - both native and non-native nectar producing plants and to abandon the use of pesticides particular those containing neonicotinoids. The talk was greatly appreciated.   The evolution of bees and flowers is one of the most remarkable examples of co-evolution in nature—where two groups of organisms evolve in order to attract each other in a mutually beneficial relationship. 140 million years ago there were no bees or flowers but at this time, in the Early Cretaceous, flowering plants (angiosperms) began to appear. Early flowers were likely small, dull, and wind-pollinated, but some began developing features to attract animals like beetles and flies for more efficient pollination. About 120 million years ago bees began to evolve from wasp-like ancestors that were carnivorous. . Fossil evidence shows early bees trapped in amber had both wasp and bee features. These wasps began to shift to a vegetarian diet, collecting pollen and nectar instead of hunting insects. Through this process bees emerged as a distinct species and they have been evolving ever since to the point where there are now over 20,000 species.  The driving force of pollen Pollen is essential for the reproduction of both bees and flowers this drove co-evolution for mutual success. Adult bees evolved behavioural and physiological adaptations to gather and transport pollen more efficiently. As bees adapted to collect nectar and pollen, flowers adapted to make their nectar and pollen resources more accessible and rewarding. In particular, they developed:
Bees, in turn, developed:
 Over time some flowers formed specific relationships with certain bee species (e.g., buzz pollination in tomatoes, requiring bumblebees). Some flowers, like bee orchids, even mimic female bees, tricking male bees into "pseudocopulation" for pollination (image right) A mutually beneficial relationship Flowers need bees to distribute their pollen to other flowers of ther own species in order to complete the fertilisation process. Bees visit flowers to harvest their resources which include pollen, nectar, oils, and/or resins, depending on the plant species. Pollen, the most protein-rich of these rewards, is essential to bee reproduction. Once gathered, adult bees typically mix pollen with nectar and glandular secretions to form a nutritious “bee bread,” which forms the diet of larval bees. Nectar is composed chiefly of carbohydrates and water, with low levels of amino acids, lipids, proteins, and various vitamins and minerals. It is this sugar-rich food source that fuels adult bees, butterflies, and a myriad of other flower visitors, such as bats and hummingbirds. Oils and resins are secreted by some flowers to attract bees. Specialized floral glands produce calorie-rich, medicinal oils that are regularly collected by a few bees and mixed with pollen and nectar for feeding and medicating larvae. Most likely, such flower resins first evolved to protect the plants from herbivores or disease. Eventually bees came to use them as a food source, and as a resin for constructing antimicrobial and waterproof nests.  Co-evolution of lavender and bees Lavender and bees have co-evolved through a long and mutually beneficial relationship shaped by natural selection over millions of years . This co-evolution has influenced the plant’s traits and the behaviour and sensory adaptations of bees. Here's how that relationship has unfolded: Here are some of the ways in which lavender has adapted to attract bees in order to help it pollinate and thrive. 1. Colouration Lavender flowers are blue to violet, which bees see very well (they perceive UV, blue, and green best). The petal patterns often have UV nectar guides — invisible to us, but like landing lights to bees. 2. Scent Lavender produces strong aromatic oils (linalool, camphor, etc.), which help attract bees from a distance. The fragrance acts as a signal of nectar availability, reinforced through learning. 3. Nectar and Pollen Production Lavender produces copious nectar with a high sugar content, ideal for honey production. It also offers pollen, a key protein source for bee larvae. Its long flowering season (summer to early autumn) provides sustained forage. 4. Floral Structure Lavender has tubular flowers that exclude many non-pollinators but match the tongue length of bees (especially long-tongued bumblebees and honeybees). The structure rewards the right pollinators, encouraging flower constancy. Some of the ways that bees have adapted to lavender 1. Colour Vision Bees have evolved to see UV and blue, perfectly matching lavender's flower colour range. Their vision helps them detect lavender from afar and locate nectar guides. 2. Learning and Memory Bees learn and remember lavender’s scent, shape, and location — increasing efficiency. This leads to flower constancy — bees repeatedly visit lavender, aiding effective pollination. 3. Tongue Length Species like bumblebees (Bombus spp.) have long tongues suited to lavender’s flower tubes. Over generations, tongue length and flower depth have co-adjusted for efficiency. To summarise, lavender and bees exemplify co-evolution, where plants evolve traits that attract and reward bees and bees evolve traits to detect, access, and remember those plants. This leads to strong ecological interdependence, promoting both biodiversity and resilience in pollination networks. These evolutionary adaptations benefit lavender through more efficient pollination → higher seed set → greater reproductive success. They benefit bees through more reliable nectar and pollen supply sustained over a long flowering season. NJ & chatgpt Evolution of Bees https://www.museumoftheearth.org/bees/evolution-fossil-record This video, made with the help of AI, explains why bees find lavender so attractive but the features that attract bees are the result of adaptations brought about through natural selection as bees interacted with the plant over millions of years The world of bees is truly fascinating and in this brilliant short video, David Attenborough explains how electricity enables flowers and bees to communicate in quite a sophisticated and meaningful way. Plants are rooted to the ground and have a small negative charge the higher up the plant you go the greater the electric charge this creates an electric field around the flow we can't see it but we can detect it with the appropriate instruments. Bees have a positive charge and friction while flying causes them to lose electrons. As a Bee approaches a flower it charges the electrical field around the flower and the positive and negative fields immediately cancel each other out. As this happens there are two very surprising consequences firstly the plant's negatively charged pollen actually jumps across onto the positively charged bee. Secondly the plant now has a changed electrical field and when another bee comes along it detects this altered electrical signature and avoids the flower the plant is in effect telling the bee that it has no nectar and to go elsewhere and come back later. This post considers their extraordinary navigational skills that enable bees to find flowers with food resources, return to the hive, and in the case of honey bees communicate essential information to enable other bees to find the same food source. To achieve this navigational feat they make use of a variety of techniques including: Visual Landmarks - Bees remember shapes, colours, and patterns in the landscape: Trees, rocks, buildings, and hedges become "visual cues". They use these to create a mental map of their surroundings. Sun Compass - Bees use the position of the sun to find direction. Even when the sun is obscured, they detect polarized light patterns in the sky. This acts like a built-in compass. Magnetic Field Detection (still being studied) Evidence suggests bees can sense Earth’s magnetic field using iron granules (small crystals of magnetite) in their stomachs — similar to birds and sea turtles, linked to quantum effects in their eyes that enables them to ‘see’ magnetic fields Odometer System - Bees estimate distance by counting how fast scenery moves across their field of vision while flying — a kind of visual odometer. Scent Trails Bees can also follow scent marks: Foragers leave faint pheromones on flowers or near the hive entrance. These scent cues help guide them or others back. Bumblebees learn the layout of their surroundings. They remember shapes, colours, edges, and even panoramic views. On first flights, they perform "learning flights", spiralling and looking back to memorize their nest location. They also develop “traplines” — efficient foraging routes visiting the same flowers in the same order each day. Solitary bees (e.g., mason bees, leafcutter bees, mining bees) are even more independent. Like bumblebees, they remember local features to return to their nesting hole and flowers. After emerging from their nests, they perform orientation flights to remember their nest’s exact location. Honey bees use similar methods to navigate but, in addition, they try to communicate information about the sources of food they have found to other bees through what is known as the waggle dance.  Sharing what has been learnt The waggle dance is one of the most fascinating examples of animal communication. Honey bees use it to share detailed information about the location of food sources with other bees in the hive — including direction, distance, and quality. On returning to the hive after a successful foraging trip, the honey bee waggles her body while running in a straight line then loops back to repeat in a figure-eight motion. The waggle run is the most important part — that’s where the key info is shared namely the direction of the food source relative to the sun. The angle of the waggle run relative to vertical shows the direction of the food source relative to the sun. While the duration of the waggle run indicates how far away the food is. For example a short waggle = nearby (e.g., 100 m) versus a long waggle = far (e.g., 1 km). Finally the more energetic the dance and the more repeats indicates a richer nectar source. This animated movie provides a great explanation of the way bees share their knowledge of food sources gained through foraging.
However, the waggle dance may be less efficient than once thought. Studies have found that honeybees rarely make use of the information communicated in the waggle dance and seem to only do so about ten percent of the time.There can be a conflict between private information based upon individual experiences, and social information transmitted through dance communication. Essentially, foragers often prefer to use remembered information about previously rewarding food sites that they have visited and will use this information even when receiving dance information about new food sources. Honeybees are able to successfully forage independently without expending the potentially extensive energy it takes to process and execute the directions communicated by their fellow foragers. However, foragers following waggle dances will eventually switch to using public information, the food location information provided by the waggle dancer, when their private information is no longer useful. NJ assisted by chatgpt It was quite windy yesterday the weather report for Betchworth informed me that the winds would be up to 28km/ph with gusts at higher speeds. I noticed that inspite of the wind, the bees were still flying and managing to land and forage on the swaying teasles. I wondered what wind speeds stopped bumblebees from flying and came across a study which said that bumble bees are reluctant to fly in winds above 32km/ph. The bigger question is how do bumblebees manage to fly at all? Despite their chunky bodies and tiny wings, bumblebees are brilliant flyers—and their flight mechanics are a marvel of nature and physics. Bumblebees don’t flap their wings up and down like birds. Instead, they sweep them back and forth in a figure-eight pattern, which creates swirling air vortices that generate lift. Their wings beat incredibly fast—up to 200 times per second! This rapid motion helps them stay airborne even with their bulky bodies. Their flight muscles don’t rely on individual nerve signals for each beat. Instead, they vibrate like a plucked rubber band, allowing for sustained rapid flapping, and, unlike other insects that use wide arcs, bumblebees use short strokes combined with rapid rotation at the end of each stroke to maximize lift. This video made by the Smithonian Institute explains the mechanisms of bee flight. Scientists at Harvard glued tiny markers on bumblebees and recorded them at 1,000 frames per second as they flew in a small wind tunnel in steady and turbulent air. They analyzed the flights in detail by using the tilt of the marker and found that the bees were blown side to side much more easily than up and down. The bees were experts at rolling while flying so were able to correct their flight path more easily. I searched on Youtube to find out more about how bees fly and came across this interesting BBC video which tracked the flight of bumblebees using radar. The insight it gives is that bees fly in straight lines bee-lines!– even in high winds. NJ assisted by chatgpt I recently visited RHS Wisley and one of their features is a mount covered in lavender. Beautiful in its own right it harboured another beauty namely the thousands of bees that were foraging on its flowers. I know lavender is a good plant for bees but why is it so attractive. Lavender is excellent for bees for several reasons. It produces a high quantity of nectar, which is the primary energy source for bees. Lavender flowers over a long period, typically from late spring to early autumn, providing forage when other flowers may have stopped blooming, offering a reliable food source. Studies show lavender is one of the most nectar-productive garden plants in the UK. It often ranks high in RHS trials for pollinator value. Lavender flowers have a tubular shape but are still relatively easy for bees to access. Bumblebees, honeybees, and solitary bees all thrive on lavender. The aromatic oils in lavender give off a strong, sweet fragrance that is especially attractive to bees. This helps them locate the flowers even from a distance. Lavender loves the sun, and so do bees. Lavender flowers are often in open, sunny locations, making them easy for bees to find and access. Furthermore, bees have trichromatic vision, like humans, but their colour receptors are tuned to: ultraviolet (UV), blue and green. Lavender appears very bright to a bee they see a strong combination of blue and ultraviolet, which stands out clearly against green foliage. Lavender flowers often have UV patterns (called nectar guides) on their petals that direct bees to the nectar — like landing lights on a runway. Given all these factors its not surprising that lavender bushes are usually covered in bees. Bees Needs Week 2025 runs from July 14th to 20th but how well do we know our bees? The UK is home to over 270 bee species—including 1 honeybee, ~24 bumblebees, and ~250 solitary bees like mason, mining, and plasterer bees. While honeybees are dominant in terms of numbers, bumblebees and solitary bees are exceptional pollinators, often more efficient than honeybees, and more active in cooler weather. From an ecological and biodiversity perspective, bumblebees and solitary bees deserve more attention. Over 90% of British bee species are solitary, with each nest the work of a single female. Only bumblebees and honey bees are social. Bee societies are almost entirely female. Each colony comprises a queen and a caste of smaller sterile females called workers. The queen lays all the eggs, and the workers care for the larvae with the older workers foraging for nectar and pollen. In a bee colony, male bees (drones) primarily play the role of ensuring genetic diversity by mating with queens from other colonies. They do not participate in hive building, defence, or foraging, and are essentially reproductively focused. They are often expelled from the hive before winter when resources become scarce. Bumblebees The UK has 24 species of bumblebee, of which eight are common. They play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and supporting food webs. They are among the most effective pollinators, pollinating 80% of our wildflowers and 84% of crops. Their preferred habitats are meadows, gardens, parks, verges, woodlands and heathlands, with abundant flowering plants from early spring to late summer. Bumblebee queens emerge in spring to forage on flowers and find suitable nest sites. Males and new queens are produced in late summer or autumn and fly off to mate with bees in other colonies. At the end of the colony cycle, the queen, workers and males die. Only the new queens over winter to start the cycle again the next year. Bumblebee populations have seen a sharp decline in the last 50 years which makes them an important species for conservation efforts. Some of our bumblebees  Solitary bees Unlike honeybees and bumblebees, solitary bees do not live in colonies with ‘worker’ bees. Rather, a single female builds and provisions her own nest. Depending on the species, solitary bees can be ground or aerial nesters, and may use mud, leaves, body secretions or floral oils as their nesting material. Some are furry and larger like their bumblebee cousins while others are virtually hairless and no more than a few mm in length. A solitary bee belongs to one of 24 different groups or ‘genera’. Solitary bees may be ground nesters or aerial nesters. Ground-nesters, such as mining bees, can be found in lawns, along paths, cliff faces and on sunny banks. Using their legs, they dig into the ground to create a tunnel, which then splits into different chambers where they lay their eggs. While most species are ground-nesting, some bees nest aerially. Solitary bees such as flower bees, leafcutters and mason bees may nest in hollow plant stems, cavities in dead wood, or more artificial structures such as walls and bee hotels. While solitary, you can find females nesting close together at good sites. Some of our Soilitory (MIning) bees   Honey bees Honey bees are social insects living in large colonies with a queen, drones, and sterile female workers. They are crucial pollinators, transferring pollen between flowers, which is essential for the reproduction of many plants and the production of fruits and vegetables. Honey bees collect nectar from flowers and convert it into honey, which they store in their hives. They also produce beeswax, which they use to build their honeycomb structures. Honey bees have a black and gold striped body, with a hairy thorax and bent antennae. They have five eyes: two large compound eyes and three smaller ocelli. Honey bees communicate through a "waggle dance," which they use to indicate the location and distance of food sources. While there are many wild bee species in the UK, honey bees are often managed by beekeepers for honey production and pollination. Where there are large number of honey bee colonies is detrimental to wild bee populations because of competition for food. Threats Like all pollinating insects our bees are subject to numerous threats through loss of natural habitats due to agricultural intensification, urban development, and changes in land use. The use of pesticides, especially neonicotinoids, affect bee navigation and reproduction. Climate change, altering flowering times and therefore food availability and diseases and parasites such as Nosema bombi. Any further loss of diversity or abundance of our insect pollinators needs to be avoided so any help that we can give them by creating wildflower-rich habitats, avoiding pesticides and herbicides or creating nesting sites, is a good thing. Resources The Wild ID Bees of Britain published by the Field Studies Council and written by Buglife & Chris O’Toole is an excellent Guide A short guide to solitory bees https://www.nhsn.org.uk/a-short-guide-to-solitary-bees/ Surrey Wildlife Trust Wild Bee Action Pack 
Surrey Wildlife Trust Bee ID Chart
Bees Needs Week 4Bs Activities - Resident Bee Survey & Talk on the Plight of the Bumblees During July 2025 we will be conducting our own bee survey across the 4Bs linked to Bees Needs Week (14 to 20 July). The team will summarise results and build a gallery of photographs. There will also be a talk given by bee expert Peter Smith on July 17th in Betchworth Village Hall (see advert). Norman Jackson 4Bs Biodiversity Initiative Coordinator   It's July and the sky is full of flying insects, but our most mesmerising insect is the dragonfly, and the 4Bs is a fantastic place to spot them, thanks to our ponds, lakes, slow-moving streams and river. There are around 36 species of dragonflies in the UK, and many of them can be found in our area. These active, colourful insects thrive in clean, shallow waters with plenty of aquatic vegetation. Species you might spot include the Emperor Dragonfly, Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Southern Hawker, and Broad-bodied Chaser. They’re not just beautiful to watch, they’re also important indicators of a healthy ecosystem. Vision is their primary sense and it is probably unmatched by any other insects or animals, with two large compound eyes, each hosting thousands of lenses, and three eyes with simple lenses. Which compensates for their small or underdeveloped antennae that limit or inhibit the ability to hear and smell. They are the ultimate insect predator and are the top predator in their food chain.  Dragonflies often mate on the wing and their mating process is one of the most fascinating in the insect world. The male grasps the female behind the head using claspers at the end of his abdomen. They fly together in this tandem position, until the male fertilises the eggs being carried by the female. This is tricky because the although the male's penis is where you would expect it to be, at the end of his abdominal segment, the female’s genital opening is located near her neck. To connect the sex organs the couple form a closed circle with their bodies, sometimes in the shape of a heart!  Female dragonflies lay their eggs in or near water—either directly into the water, on aquatic plants, or in mud. They hatch into a nymph within a few days to several weeks, depending on the species and temperature. Dragonfly nymphs are fierce predators, feeding on tadpoles, worms, small fish, and other aquatic insects. They have extendable mouthparts (a sort of shooting jaw) to catch prey. They may live for a year or more as a nymph and and go through several moults shedding their skin as they grow. When fully grown, the nymph climbs out of the water onto a plant or rock. It then undergoes final moulting, splitting the nymphal skin and emerging as a winged adult. After a few hours of drying and hardening its ready to fly – and fly the do circling around a pond or field for hours at a time. Dragonflies have been around for approximately 300 million years, since the Carboniferous period, making them one of the first winged insects to evolve. Given this enormous time span its rather sad that life is short for such an amazing creature. The life-expectancy of adults is typically no more than a week or two, and 6 to 8 weeks at best. So let us cherish the moments they share with us. The British Dragonfly Association has a wonderful website with lots of information about dragonflies and damselflies and a wonderful identification page 4Bs Biodiversity Initiative Dragonfly Movie visit our Channel 4Bs Biodiversity Initiative - YouTube |
4Bs Nature Group BlogThis blog is maintained by the 4Bs Biodiversity Initiative Team. Its purpose is to provide brief updates of activities and encourage the sharing of experiences and learning. We welcome guests and contributions from members of the 4Bs WhatsApp Nature Group and wider community. To contribute a post please email the editor at biodiversityinititiative1 @gmail.com PagesArchives
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