All-Ireland Pollinator Plan - latest news

Topics: Environment / Climate

Sources: All-Ireland Pollinator Plan

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All-Ireland Pollinator Plan - latest news

Newsletter: October 2024

The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is a framework bringing together different sectors across the island of Ireland to create a landscape where pollinators can survive and thrive. Its implementation is coordinated by the National Biodiversity Data Centre.

To spot this month: keep an eye out for one of our newest bees

The Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) was first spotted at the Raven Nature Reserve (Wexford) in October 2021. It’s a solitary bee with an autumn flight period, to match the flowering of its favourite plant - Ivy. It nests in south facing banks of light soil. Within the National Biodiversity Data Centre, we've been keeping an eye on its spread each year (current distribution below). Photograph: Jonathan Derham.

The Ivy Bee is quite large and has very distinctive bands of white on the abdomen. It is likely to be around from mid-September until mid-October. Particularly check in areas along the east and south coasts. Please submit your record if you think you’ve spotted this bee, and attach a photograph if it’s from a new location.

Submit your solitary bee sightings

To do this month: the kind of seeds we do encourage you to plant!

Now is the perfect time to collect and plant seeds from our native trees. Good seed to plant are Rowan, Hawthorn and Elder berries. The flowers from these native trees are a valuable food source for our pollinators in the spring. Collecting and growing seeds from healthy trees in Ireland is the best way to ensure that local trees can flourish, and gaps are restored with native species. While it doesn’t directly support pollinators, Oak is an incredibly important tree for biodiversity. A great action just now is to pick up some acorns if you’re out on a walk and find somewhere suitable to plant them locally. Photo: Ruth Wilson

Flyer: Right tree, right space, right place

All-Ireland Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme: 2012-2023 report

The All-Ireland Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme, established by the National Biodiversity Data Centre in 2012, is one of the first of its kind globally. It tracks bumblebees and uses the status of the 8 commonest species to generate a multi-species population index as a measure of the health of Ireland’s bumblebee populations. The scheme involves volunteers walking a fixed route (transect) each month from March to October and counting all the bumblebees seen. It represents a huge voluntary effort by our citizen scientists. In 2023, 86 volunteers walked more than 1,000km and counted 20,379 individual bumblebees.

Main findings:

The weather was poor in 2023, and this is reflected in the data. Bumblebee numbers were below average for most of the year, other than a peak in July.
While things do seem to be stabilising a little, there is still an overall year-on-year decline in bumblebees of 3.3% since 2012.
Without doubt, the most worrying findings come from the individual species trends. The current analyses flag four of our common species as being in decline.
Having first arrived in Ireland in 2017, the Tree Bumblebee is slowly expanding. It will be a fascinating one to watch in future years as it fully establishes here.

While we all wish this data told a different story, it’s important to bear in mind the positives. Thanks to the generosity of those taking part, we know what is happening with bumblebees in our landscape and can respond to that through the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. While we know that the Large Carder Bumblebee remains in difficulties, increasing numbers of communities have been taking action. We can clearly see that where this happens at local levels, the bee responds positively within a short period of time. If we can continue support for the Pollinator Plan, there is no reason why we cannot change the trajectory for our wild pollinators in coming years. These findings do indicate the urgency of those efforts and that they need to be further increased.

Link to the pdf report

Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme website

Pollinator, native plant, and action of the week

Many pollinators are entering hibernation now, but some are still active and searching for food. Most flowers have stopped blooming by now, but a few important native species are still in flower. They include Dandelions, Perennial Sowthistle, Ivy and Yarrow. Ivy was a particular favourite in 2023, with far more sightings of wild bees feeding on this than any other plant.

Every month, we're sharing ideas on how you can support pollinators with evidence-based actions. We'll also be celebrating the connection between native plants and pollinators by shining a spotlight on different species. Each week on social media we will release a pollinator of the week, a native plant of the week, and an action of the week. You can also get the monthly summary on our website.

October: pollinator, native plant and action of the week

Learn more about our Mason Bees

You might have Red Mason Bees (Osmia bicornis) safely hibernating in your bee box. You’ll know they are in there if the cavity has been plugged with mud. Learn more about these fascinating solitary bees.