CITIZEN SCIENCE
Bare soil below a hedgerow showing numerous solitary bee cavities
A New Bank The second option is to import the substrate (sand/soil) to a suitable spot and build from scratch. This method might suit a Tidy Towns project, a school, a farm or a housing estate nature area perhaps. The size here is not important and will be dictated by budget (if buying sand) as well as help and space available. Choose a spot that gets the sun. If it is on grass you will want to turn the top sod to suppress the vegetation. Literally use a spade to cut the sod off the top and flip it over grass side down. If it’s an area of bare ground, you can avoid that step. Now mark out the footprint of the bee bank, a south-facing crescent shape is recommended to capture various angles to the sun. Now you need to begin to build up the core of the bee bank, the material used can be anything available, a mixture of rocks, gravel, soil, subsoil or whatever will do nicely. With the core material in-place you will have a significant crescent shape structure that now needs capping with the material where the bees will tunnel. Builder's sand is recommended here and will need to be layered to a minimum of 30cm deep, but deeper pockets are also a good idea to add variety. Sub soil could also be used here; the key thing is the material can be compacted and firmed up and is low in nutrients to reduce vegetation establishing (why we avoid using topsoil). Variation of nesting habitat will attract various bee species so finessing your bee bank by modifying slopes, the depth of capping material etc will likely result in a greater variety of occupants!
28
Roadside slope with bare soil, perfect solitary bee nesting habitat
In Summary • • • • • •
Choose suitable site (a sunny south-facing spot). Clear the ground or turn sod if the vegetation is vigorous. Build the core of the structure with available materials (rocks, soil, gravel). Cap the structure with capping material (builders’ sand or sub soil). Compact the capping material. Grab a cuppa!
Maintenance Both the semi-natural and newly built bee bank will need to be cleared of vegetation every year in late autumn to ensure bee access is retained. Do this by hand or very carefully with a tool so as not to disturb the tunnels and inhabitants. Clear vegetation around the edge to slow encroachment. Never use herbicides to suppress plant growth.
Further Reading National Biodiversity Data Centre, How to Guide – Creating Wild Pollinator Nesting Habitat: https://www.heritageweek.ie/content/files/Pollinator-How-to-Guide-1-ALT_FINAL.pdf Juanita Browne, Gardening For Biodiversity: https://laois.ie/wp-content/uploads/GardenWildlife-Booklet-WEB-17MB.pdf Bug Life, Bee Bank Booklet: http://www.friendsofhaileypark.org.uk/uploads/1/9/5/1/1951271/ bee_bank_booklet.pdf
Irish Wildlife Spring ‘21
027_IWT Spring_2021_IWT Citizen Science_V1 REV.indd 28
19/02/2021 12:16
