Worcestershire vegetable growers Paul and Mike Southall have brought the bumblebee, Bombus ruderatus, to the farm, near Stourport-on-Severn, through special conservation areas of Syngenta Operation Bumblebee habitat planted around their fields.
Bombus ruderatus is one of the most precariously balanced species in the UK. The loss of habitat and breeding sites over the past 50 years has seen numbers fall dramatically, with just two sites in Worcestershire currently recording its existence. Now experts have identified this rare species on the Norchard Farm, along with thousands of other bumblebees, butterflies and insects.
Mike Southall said: “The results we have seen on our farm has been incredibly exciting. The Operation Bumblebee wildflower habitats are full of colour and teeming with insect life. The speed at which bumblebees and other insects have colonised even small areas of dedicated habitat is quite remarkable.
“We are very proud of what we have achieved with Operation Bumblebee and the way that we manage the environment alongside our food production. Finding such a rare species as Bombus ruderatus makes it even more worthwhile.”
The farm is currently picking high-quality dwarf green beans for Sainsbury’s, which has been pioneering the exciting Syngenta Operation Bumblebee project with all of its fresh produce suppliers.
The work is starting to deliver real benefits for the environmental and sustainable food production, according to Debbie Winstanley, Sainsbury’s Company Agronomist. “Sainsbury’s customers care about the environment in which their food is grown,” she said. “This project demonstrates how sustainable, profitable food production and a vibrant countryside can sit side by side.”
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