New initiative from the Coop

[Brosville]

http://www.co-operative.coop/pollinatorpatches

"Have you got a patch of unloved overgrown land in your local area? Want to transform it into a haven for bees, butterflies and your local community? Complete the form below for a chance to win one of seven ‘make overs’ courtesy of The Co-operative’s Plan Bee and Plantlife, the national charity dedicated to saving wildflowers"

 

[Bitbybit]

unloved overgrown land

We have lots of unloved overgrown land here in Ireland at the moment, they are called ghost housing estates...

 

[abi-e]

The ghost estates could be just what the bees have been looking for.....

 

[richardbees]

the national charity dedicated to saving wildflowers"

vomit

bunch of Socialist pratts

 

[Dishmop]

"Have you got a patch of unloved overgrown land in your local area"

Norfolk.

 

[susbees]

bunch of Socialist pratts

I believe the term you are looking for is "prat". And that you should justify your point....

 

[user 6228]

It may look derelict and abandoned to you but its a habitat to some wildlife...
I remember seeing a documentary about a makeover of a thames tributary in London. They had a problem, it was ugly but inhabited by relatively rare species... I particularly remember the kingfsher perched on a half submerged Tesco trolley. Derelict and abandoned = undisturbed nature reserve

 

[thorn]

the national charity dedicated to saving wildflowers"

vomit

bunch of Socialist pratts

This forum is not the place for such comments.

 

[thisgardener]

the national charity dedicated to saving wildflowers"

vomit

bunch of Socialist pratts

keep polly ticks out of it and be grateful that at least some organisations are willing to raise the plight of bees and wildlife.

 

[Mellifera397]

Don't let one person's opinion of the people who are doing this take away from the fact that derekm does have a good point. Wild things are only wild if they are left wild.

M

 

[thisgardener]

I agree that abandoned derelict sites etc may look unattractive to people but are often the oasis in a desert for wildlife. we as a species always want to sanitize and get things in order so we feel pleased with ourselves in achieving something we think is an improvement.
its our species that has knackered the environment so much in the last 100 years, that to me it doesn't matter if its left, right, monster raving loonies or any other organisation.
if they are doing something positive to try to redress the balance a bit the least we can do is give them a break instead of labelling them and calling them prats. if I was a none beekeeper and saw that kind of response to help i'd think twice before helping.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Derelict and abandoned = undisturbed nature reserve

I think they found a rare Bumble bee last year, at one of these 'derelict' sites.

It's a nice idea to spread and increase the numbers of wild flowers, but I think the 'makeover' concept is a bit misguided unless it's done very carefully. I think they should make sure flowers are ones that would be right for an area, that way nature would be given a helping hand at recolonisation, rather than swamping a place with non-native flora that out compete some of the perhaps slower growing ones that are more suited to the habitat.

The Natural History Museum runs a very good site called the Postcode Plants Database, which lists the 'native' flora for a given area. It's worth a look http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/plants-fungi/postcode-plants/

 

[djg]

I think they found a rare Bumble bee last year, at one of these 'derelict' sites.

It's a nice idea to spread and increase the numbers of wild flowers, but I think the 'makeover' concept is a bit misguided unless it's done very carefully. I think they should make sure flowers are ones that would be right for an area, that way nature would be given a helping hand at recolonisation, rather than swamping a place with non-native flora that out compete some of the perhaps slower growing ones that are more suited to the habitat.

The Natural History Museum runs a very good site called the Postcode Plants Database, which lists the 'native' flora for a given area. It's worth a look http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/plants-fungi/postcode-plants/

Thanks, beejoyful, for this fascinating resource. I realise that this is specifically for "native" flora, but I was surprised that Lime (Tilia) did not appear in the "Tree" section of my postcode search (SE1), when it is the main nectar flow for my bees.

The trees have been around locally for a while, certainly since the 1982 sourcing of this database. Any ideas why the Lime has been omitted ?

 

[alanf]

Any ideas why the Lime has been omitted ?

Probably because the lime trees seen in parks and gardens are planted hybrids. Nothing wrong with them for bees or wildlife, they're known as Tilia x europaea and result from a cross between the small leaved lime Tilia cordata and large leaved Tilia platyphyllos. Hybrids are not 'native flora' even if occurring when parents have been placed in close proximity. One or both of the parents might have been present naturally at some time, but not recorded in the 1982 survey or other relatively recent records.

 

[TBRNoTB]

the national charity dedicated to saving wildflowers"

vomit

bunch of Socialist pratts

As others have said, I think we all know who the 'Prat' is

 

[BeeJayBee]

, but I was surprised that Lime (Tilia) did not appear in the "Tree" section of my postcode search (SE1), when it is the main nectar flow for my bees.

The trees have been around locally for a while, certainly since the 1982 sourcing of this database. Any ideas why the Lime has been omitted?

Probably because the lime trees seen in parks and gardens are planted hybrids. Nothing wrong with them for bees or wildlife, they're known as Tilia x europaea and result from a cross between the small leaved lime Tilia cordata and large leaved Tilia platyphyllos. Hybrids are not 'native flora' even if occurring when parents have been placed in close proximity. One or both of the parents might have been present naturally at some time, but not recorded in the 1982 survey or other relatively recent records.

The British native lime is Tilia cordata. The mainland European one is T. platyphyllos. They're obviously very close relatives because they hybridise, but the hybrid wouldn't naturally occur in Britain because the two trees wouldn't have been able to meet without man's intervention. It's mostly the hybrids that have been used for urban planting schemes.

There's a bit more about native trees - "Compared with other countries, Britain has relatively few native trees; between 30-40 (the exact number depends on how you define a 'tree' and 'species')" - and how they are managed on the FC/Westonbirt site http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6zpgub including mention of a 2,000 year old T. cordata.

 

[user 6228]

I agree that abandoned derelict sites etc may look unattractive to people but are often the oasis in a desert for wildlife. we as a species always want to sanitize and get things in order so we feel pleased with ourselves in achieving something we think is an improvement.
its our species that has knackered the environment so much in the last 100 years, that to me it doesn't matter if its left, right, monster raving loonies or any other organisation.
if they are doing something positive to try to redress the balance a bit the least we can do is give them a break instead of labelling them and calling them prats. if I was a none beekeeper and saw that kind of response to help i'd think twice before helping.

but strangeley dual carraigeways and motorways are wildlife sanctuaries, because there are very few people. Theres a lot of noisey tin boxes but quite a bit of wildlife can ignore them, vis the Red kite which appeared to have spread from Wales along the M4 and is now colonising the M40 and A34.
Its a rare day NOT to see 2 or more of them in the Reading area

 

[straightman21]

This forum is not the place for such comments.

 

[Mellifera397]

This forum is not the place for such comments.

I think that the forum should be a place for everyone's opinions as long as they're justified so I think we should give the guy a chance to explain his viewpoint rather than denouncing him only to eat our words later when he explains himself and turns out to actually have a point.

 

[susbees]

I think that the forum should be a place for everyone's opinions as long as they're justified so I think we should give the guy a chance to explain his viewpoint rather than denouncing him only to eat our words later when he explains himself and turns out to actually have a point.

See post 6...patient lot, some of us ...