Species on the Edge volunteer, Jean Ward, tells us about her experience of monitoring bumblebees in Orkney.
In March 2024 I was accepted as an RSPB volunteer for the Species on the Edge (SotE) programme, monitoring populations of at-risk species in Orkney. Species on the Edge has nine target species in Orkney including the great yellow bumblebee (Bombus distinguendus) which is found only in the far northwest of the Scottish mainland, Orkney and some of the Hebridean islands.
Great yellow bumblebees live in machair grasslands, wildflower meadows and occasionally gardens. As I have a wildflower area in my garden and knew very little about social bees but was keen to learn more, I decided to concentrate on monitoring the bumblebee populations in Orkney in my Species on the Edge volunteering role.
Helen Cromarty, the Orkney Project Officer for SotE, ran initial training sessions online for all of us who were joining SotE as volunteers. This was very useful in giving the national context for the work we were about to begin as well as providing us with knowledge of the various apps and pieces of equipment we would be using.
Helen also put me in touch with Katy Malone from Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT), a national organisation based at Stirling University Innovation Park. Katy is the lead of the SotE Bumblebee project “Bees on the Edge”, and she also organised a BBCT online training for the national SotE team. BBCT have developed the citizen science project ‘BeeWalk,’: “a standardised bumblebee-monitoring scheme active across the UK, recording the abundance of each species seen between March and October”.
Helen had already identified a possible BeeWalk ‘transect’ (a standardised walk) on part of the Crantit Trail in Kirkwall. This is a popular route of about 1 km used by walkers, cyclists, and horse-riders of all ages. We walked it together to set it up on the app on the BBCT website. We were recording all bees seen within 2m on either side of the narrow path and 2m ahead. These were photographed (if possible – they fly very fast!) and identified to ‘species’ (type of bee) and ‘caste’ (their role in the bee community – queen, worker or male). This excellent short film explains what we were doing:
Although we have a particular interest in the great yellow bumblebee, it is important to record all bees found. It is also very useful to have information on the plant species they are feeding on. With any species monitoring activity, it is important that all the criteria (e.g. time of day, windspeed, cloud cover) are applied consistently across the country – no use in looking for bumblebees in a gale! At first, I was a little concerned that I may not do this correctly and we would have errors in our data. However, BBCT and SotE supply excellent support materials, including identification guides, for us to take out on a clipboard.
With everything now in place, I began to do the BeeWalks every month, from May to Oct. It was not long before it became clear that there were not many bees on the Crantit Trail compared to my garden a couple of miles away. I became very interested in this and began to photograph any bees I found in either location. Helen and Katy were both very helpful in answering my questions and helping me with ID.
By this time, we were into May and the weather was unseasonably cold, grey and damp. It seemed as if spring was never going to arrive and there were reports in the media of low survival rates of lambs, fledgling birds and other young animals. This included bees and other insects. On several occasions I found no bees at all on my BeeWalk. However, in August, when the warmer temperatures and longer days were upon us, I recorded many individuals of several species: white-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum); moss carder bumblebee (B.muscorum); common carder bumblebee (B.pascuorum). They were feeding mainly on tall rosebay willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium).
The monitoring data for 2024 is now with BBCT who will share this to the National Biodiversity Network, analyse it, and report back to the SotE project officers. Locally, Helen will then use this to write her end of year bumblebee work report and to inform decisions on the SotE project here in Orkney. This includes working with landowners to increase and improve vegetation cover to provide much-needed habitat for bees and other pollinators.
Helen also shares the data collected to the local Orkney County Recorder, so we are also contributing to local records for bumblebee species. Such local records were used in the SotE development phase in Orkney to determine the work that would be carried out for this species here.
During the summer I also assisted Helen on a verge survey at Yesnaby. It is important to find out what we have growing, to know what bee species is attracted to which plant species. This was an opportunity for more macro-photography: left is Scottish primrose (Primula scotica) and right is grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris) which is actually a flowering plant and not a grass at all! Parnassus is a mountain in Greece.
In September, BBCT were inviting photos for their annual competition to produce a calendar. I looked through my files and submitted three (below). They had over 1000 entries. Although none of mine were chosen for the calendar, I was pleased when they asked if they could keep them on file for use in leaflets and other communications. My camera is a compact digital with a variable zoom lens equivalent to 25-100 mm focal range in 35mm cameras. It weighs 250g and can fit in my pocket. I do not use any additional lenses. I am a beginner in digital photography and am learning as I go along.
I have really enjoyed being part of Species on the Edge in Orkney this year. It is good to be part of a community of like-minded people who are working towards improving biodiversity locally. It has been fun; I have learned a lot, mainly about bees and macrophotography, and I have used apps to record data. I plan to expand my monitoring interests next year to include oysterplant and possibly primula scotica – Scottish primrose. Roll on March 2025!
