Bryan Pinchen started the day with a talk about solitary bees and wasps in gardens. There are some 460 species native to Britain: true pollinators (mostly bees), predators (wasps) and kleptoparasites. To encourage them, nesting sites need to be provided as well as suitable plants. He gave examples of simple structures to place in gardens that could act as nesting sites, such as rolled up tubes of newspaper stuffed into a Pringles tin, or holes drilled in a south- or west-facing fence post. He encouraged the management of meadows to benefit insect biodiversity by not cutting the whole meadow all at the same time, but cutting in stages by rotation; see his notes on grassland management for invertebrates, on our website. Bryan has published a series of pocket identification guides on bumblebees and other insects in Britain and Ireland.

Barbara Chick and Harold Williams, of the Cardiff in the Vale Beekeepers’ Association, told us about the practicalities of running the beekeeping at Dyffryn gardens. Talks from a range gardens centred on plantings to encourage bees, enabling observation of hives by the public and associated events and interpretation. Most gardens were helped by their local Beekeepers’ Association.

Bees are kept in the orchard area on the outer estate at the Eden Project; the meadow area is mown in the centre but the edges are left as a wildlife corridor. The honey – of good quality, but not very plentiful – is sold to staff, who bring their own jars. A pollination exhibit is not only about honey bees. Ness Botanic Gardens started beekeeping last year, with a link to Bees’ seeds; the hives are not far from a 4-acre wildflower meadow. Four hives at the edge of the double-walled garden at the National Botanic Garden of Wales are raised up to improve airflow and ease maintenance; one is an observation hive with a camera installed at the back. The Bee Borders at Cambridge University Botanic Garden include interpretation panels and remain colourful for a long period; see plant list on our website. Several staff at the RHS Garden Wisley have kept bees for years. There’s an apiary of four hives in the orchard for pollination of the fruit trees, and more hives at the edge of the garden in the arboretum. See also the RHS leaflet on bee plants and the Plants for Bugs project. Bristol Zoo Gardens are increasing the biodiversity on site by installing nesting sites and sowing wildflower mixes in animal enclosures.

At Kew, Jordans sponsored a new bee habitat, as part of their Big Buzz campaign. Queen bees from New Zealand were used to start colonies in a wildflower area near the main gate. The hives are surrounded by hazel fencing to make the bees change their trajectory and fly up, rather than out into the faces of the public. An exhibition about honey bees in a wildflower meadow near the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place includes a glass-sided observation hive. A small bee yard has been set up nearby; and the garden is working with Frances Ratner, Professor of Apiculture at Sussex University, on studies of foraging behaviour.

Our thanks to Gerry Donovan for hosting the meeting, and for a tour with Alex Andrews of Dyffryn Gardens, a series of Edwardian ‘garden rooms’ being restored to the 1906 plan of Thomas Mawson and Reginald Cory.

A day about bee-keeping in public gardens and planting to encourage honey bees and bumble bees – so important for pollination of crops and other plants.

The day included:

• A talk by Bryan Pinchen on solitary bees and wasps encountered in gardens
• A talk by the beekeepers at Dyffryn Gardens
• Brief reports from delegates on beekeeping in their gardens, plantings for bees and related features and activities, and discussion
• A tour of parts of Dyffryn Gardens with Gerry Donovan, Curator

Dyffryn Gardens and Arboretum, in the Vale of Glamorgan near Cardiff, is a series of Edwardian ‘garden rooms’ being restored to the 1906 plan of Thomas Mawson and Reginald Cory. The renovation of the walled garden and glasshouse is due to be completed in 2010.