Wild bees will be the subject of a talk hosted by the Parish Grasslands Project at 2.30pm on
Saturday 25 October at the Mackenzie Hall. The speaker will be Ciaran Clark, project manager
for the Monmouth-based international charity Bees for Development. Since March last year he
has been leading the Bees of Monmouthshire Recording Project, which aims to fill in the gaps in
existing knowledge and record the whole range of wild bee species in the county. This is not a
task to be under-estimated, as there are approximately 275 wild bee species in the UK.
In an era of climate change and habitat loss, bees are finding it harder not only to find enough
food to feed their young but also to find suitable nesting sites. Ciaran explained the purpose
behind the project: “We hear so much about the need to protect pollinators, but protecting and
creating habitats, like wildflower meadows, is only half of the battle. Bees need places to nest,
as well as forage. We need to understand where the different bee species are abundant locally
and which habitats are most important to them. If you don’t know the species diversity before
you intervene to ‘improve’ a certain habitat, it will be impossible to accurately assess whether
your work has had any impact. This is where the citizen science of biological recording is vital.”
By this the summer the project had amassed over 1,300 records and identified 135 different bee
species — roughly half of all the UK species. A small team of volunteer recorders have joined
the project, taking on field, microscopy and recording work, and have already contributed over
500 records. Building a community of recorders is seen as vital for the lasting impact of the
project which, as well as creating a source of knowledge about local bee diversity, connects
people to their local wildlife. The project has been supported by Wye Valley National Landscape
and the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Development Fund.
Admission to the talk is free to all, PGP members and non-members alike, and afterwards tea,
coffee and cake will be served. If you are not already a member it will be possible to join the
PGP after the talk. Membership is £10 per household per year and if you sign up at the meeting
you will be paid-up until the end of 2026.