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BEEWATCH 2008
Beewatch 2008 urgently needs your help to map the distributions of bumblebees (even the common species). Please record what species you see in your garden, or when out for a walk.
For further information please click here.
Below are two nesting boxes which will make a suitable habitat for these insects which perform an invaluable service in the transference of pollen around the flowers and the garden.
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You can make this one yourself - all you need is a flowerpot and a bit of tube or pipe more than 18mm in diameter.
Sink an upturned >20cm diameter flower pot into the ground. Put a slate/ tile over the drainage holes to keep out rain. Run a hose or pipe underground to the pot, leaving a prominent entrance. Be sure to make drainage holes in the pipe.
Again, make a chicken-wire cradle for ventilation, and fill with a generous handful of nesting material.
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Some bumblebee species nest above ground, and they occasionally use bird nesting boxes. Unlike birds, they never collect nesting material, so you`ll have to put some in the box for them.
Any bird box would probably do, but you could try these excellent value “roosting pockets” £3 each and add a `hat` to keep the rain out. An alternative roofed design is also available - 10% of sales go to BBCT
Hang them somewhere shady and sheltered, perhaps in a hedge, 0.5 - 2m above the ground. Try to reduce the size of the entrance hole, otherwise birds will probably move in!
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Magnolia Wilsonii thrives in gardens in Northern Europe |
MAGNOLIAS UNDER THREAT
Magnolias may be blooming in Britain’s gardens this spring, but in the wild it’s an altogether different story. Over half the world’s magnolia species are facing extinction in their native forest habitats, according to an authoritative new report from two leading plant conservation organisations.
The Red List of the Magnoliaceae 1, 2, published jointly today by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) 3 and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) 4, through the Global Trees Campaign (GTC) 5, identifies 131 wild magnolias as being in danger of extinction, from a global total of 245 species.
The significance of this potentially catastrophic loss lies not only in the threat to the genetic diversity of the family, but also because they are a highly sensitive indicator of the well-being of the forests in which they are found. Magnolias are among the most ancient groups of flowering plants and have long been cultivated by mankind. Some specimens growing in the precincts of Chinese temples are estimated to be up to 800 years old. Still popular as ornamental plants in gardens around the world (although fewer than 15 species are common in cultivation), in the wild magnolias are a source of timber, food and medicines for local communities
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WOLLEMI PINE
(Wollemia noblis)
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In 1994 David Noble a National Parks Offiicer In Australia stumbled by accident into a gorge, somewhere west of Sydney, Australia. and discovered the Wollemi Pine, one of the oldest known tree species in the world, with only 100 mature trees in existence. A propagation programme has been developed in a secretly guarded location, to keep marauding plant hunters at bay. This tree has unusual pendulous dark-green foliage and bubbly dark brown bark and is closely related Agathis (pine) and the Monkey Puzzle Tree.
The Botanic Garden at Kew has a Wollemi Pine near to the Orangery and there is a specimen in the Southern Hemisphere garden at Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. First generation trees are being grown and will be available for sale later this year from Kew.
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A DORMOUSE SUPER STUD
With dormice numbers dwindling to to under half a million, male dormice with the right bloodlines have been taken from the wild and fed with all the high protein food they can eat. When awaking from their annual hibernation in the spring, they impregnate as many females as is possible and the tiny baby dormice are re-introduced to the woodlands.
Dormice can rear one or two litters of up to seven babies a year. They are ready to leave the nest after four weeks.
So far there have been 13 successful re-introductions to woodlands, which depend on a sustainable programme of hedgerow conservation to allow them to thrive in isolated woods if they can reach them.
The campaign is a collaboration between English Nature and the People`s Trust for Endangered Species.
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