SPRING FOCUS

 Grey Mining Bee (Andrena cineraria) by Lill Dunne

How to create a create a Bee Bank

BY RICKY WHELAN

We are all now familiar with the struggles of our native bee species due to the stellar work of the National Biodiversity Data Centre and the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. We have seen huge moves to create wildflower meadows, manage and plant better hedgerows and propagate better, more pollinator friendly flowering schemes in our towns and villages to help these struggling insects. All these actions are fantastic and helping to arrest declines in native bee populations, but food is only one of their needs with another being the need for suitable nesting habitat. Ireland is home to no less that 62 solitary mining bees which need suitable sites to excavate chambers in which to lay eggs and complete their life cycle. Many of these species excavate these tunnels in warm exposed banks of sand and clay. Many of these bees are tiny and the only indication of them being there at all is a scattering of tiny holes where the bees have made their exit. To create a bee bank and provide good, safe nesting habitat for these bees you can take two approaches.

Existing Patch

The first and the easier of the two options is to modify an area to suit burrowing bees. You will need to find a sloping piece of ground, there is no minimum size; a few feet square would be super! The slope can be near vertical or shallow but it is important that its freely draining. The substrate can be sandy, made of soil, a bit gravelly or a mixture. The important thing is for it to be south facing and not shaded. Along the edge of a driveway or ditch or even a forgotten pile of soil will do. You will need to remove the layer of vegetation growing on the surface to give free access to the bees. Once you have scraped it bare and the sun gets on it all you need to do is wait! Scraping back a patch on the flat is also worth a go as some species prefer that. Choose a spot exposed to the sun and with poor soil/substrate as this will help suppress plant growth.