Ireland's wildlife logo.

pollinators

Competiton: win a border full of wildlife-friendly plants this spring

Our friends over at CJ Wildlife (birdfood.ie) are our go-to resource for all our garden wildlife supplies here at Ireland’s Wildlife. From bird food and feeders, to nest boxes and bug hotels… and everything in between. They also carry a host of seasonal, wildlife-friendly plants, bulbs and seeds to help….

How Planting a Wildflower Bed Can Boost Local Wildlife

Over the past hundred years or so, as farming practices have changed and urban sprawl has extended, the number of areas of wild grasses and wildflowers in Ireland and the UK has significantly dropped. Some organisations state that the loss of ‘unimproved grasslands’ is as high as 99% in Ireland….

Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland

Bee field guide cover

Bees have always been a source of fascination for me. I remember as a child spending hours in Dad’s flower borders watching their busy antics, marvelling at the sights and sounds as they buzzed from one flower to the next. Of course I could see there were lots of different kinds of….

All Ireland Pollinator Plan good news for bees…. and for people

A new island-wide plan to halt the decline in Ireland’s bees and other pollinators was officially launched yesterday by the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Backed by by 68 governmental and non-governmental organisations across the Island of Ireland, the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2015-2020 identifies actions we can take on our farmland, public….

All abuzz in Limerick City!

Buff-tailed_bumblebee,_Bombus_terrestris

  Ireland’s Wildlife Contributor Albert Nolan gets up close and personal with the bees of Limerick and discovers that the City really is buzzing!    I pass quietly through the city streets pausing at every corner to scan the buildings for birds, or peeking into an overgrown garden in the….

Bumblebees

Bombus terrestris

The slow, lazy buzz of the bumblebee is a fundamental part of the Irish summer. These fat, furry, ponderous bees trundle from flower to flower, collecting pollen and nectar to support their growing colony. They liven up the summer garden, and provide an invaluable pollination service to the plants they….

Lost bumblebee rediscovered in Dublin after 88 years

Southern cuckoo bumblebee found in Dublin Park

A gardener at a Dublin park has rediscovered a bumblebee species last recorded in Ireland in 1926. Eddie Hill, who is an avid bee recorder, and regularly submits bee sightings to the National Bumblebee Monitoring scheme, noticed some odd looking bees feeding on flowers at St. Enda’s Park in Rathfarnam. After studying photographs and two….

Irish Pollinator Initiative: driving bee conservation through better data

Andrena fulva - extinct solitary bee rediscovered in 2012

Dr. Una Fitzpatrick, Ecologist with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, explains why we need to conserve our pollinators, and how you can help. The staggering value of pollination Pollination services provided by insects, mainly bees, have been valued at €153 billion a year. With 71 out of the 100 crops….