News and articles

Keep an eye on this section to find out what the project is up to and to get tips on how to help your local bumblebee populations thrive

21 October 2019

Evaluation report

Our funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund has officially come to an end, and it’s been great to look back…

01 July 2019

Blooms for Bees quiz

We have developed a short quiz to test people’s bumblebee identification skills and familiarity with bumblebee-friendly garden plants. You can…

29 June 2019

Our first journal paper

The first Blooms for Bees journal paper ‘Evaluating the ability of citizen scientists to identify bumblebee (Bombus) species’ has been published in…

02 June 2019

Blooms for Bees featured in new wildlife gardening book

We are delighted that the Blooms for Bees project features in Kate Bradbury’s new book, Wildlife Gardening for everyone and everything,…

27 September 2018

The results 2017

Thank you to everyone who submitted surveys in 2017 and 2018. We received records from 599 participants, from as far…

12 April 2018

April flowers

The days are lengthening and queen bumblebees are stirring from hibernation. Here in Warwickshire, we have seen winter-active Buff-tailed Bumblebees…

13 February 2018

Steven's blog - bumblebee ID and farewell

It’s 11th January 2018 as I write this, sadly my last day of work for the Blooms for Bees project…

27 November 2017

Winter-active bumblebees

Most bumblebee activity has now ceased for the year, with just the new queens waiting in hibernation, ready to start…

02 November 2017

Steven's blog - Citizen science

In recent years, a growing number of projects and organisations have been engaging members of the public in research as…

26 October 2017

Foliar feed trial results

This summer, we have been working in partnership with Hozelock to find out whether foliar feeding can increase your container…

25 October 2017

Dahlia trial results

In spring we sent out packets of seed to citizen scientists around the country, to explore the potential of ‘Mignon…

25 September 2017

Steven's Blog - Autumn bumblebees and findings from our app so far

Well, it’s already mid-September, which means that the bulk of this year’s records have come in and we are able…

13 July 2017

Bee-friendly container plant trials

This summer, the Blooms for Bees project and our partners at The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) are investigating the use…

12 July 2017

Steven's Blog - Verifying your bumblebee surveys

This blog coincides with the four-week anniversary of me officially joining the Blooms for Bees team as their expert verifier.…

05 July 2017

Hannah's blog - using the Blooms for Bees app

One of my jobs this summer is to carry out timed observations of our bee-friendly bedding plant trials using the…

27 June 2017

Foliar feeding trial fieldwork

Over the summer of 2017, we are working in partnership with Hozelock to determine whether foliar feeding can increase floral…

19 June 2017

Introducing Hannah, our intern

I’m Hannah Murphy, and I have just completed my first year as a Biological and Forensic Sciences student at Coventry…

11 June 2017

Our latest publication

In 2013 we carried out a small study with 38 Garden Organic members, to explore the potential of a public…

05 June 2017

Making liquid feeds

This summer, we are working with Hozelock to explore whether foliar feeding container grown plants can increase flowering, and the…

09 May 2017

About nasturtiums

This summer, we are working with Hozelock to explore whether foliar feeds can improve nectar and pollen provision for bees.…

02 May 2017

Using foliar feeds

Containers are a popular and versatile way to grow flowers in gardens, but as the nutrients in growing media start…

08 April 2017

Foliar feeds trial

We’re really excited about our new field trial in partnership with Hozelock. The trial is designed to determine whether foliar…

21 December 2016

Nasturtium Trial 2016

Over the summer of 2016, with the help of our student intern Giri, we conducted a trial to find out…

17 November 2016

Avoiding the temptation to tidy

As the flowers fade in the Blooms for Bees Border, they leave behind some beautiful dead stems and seed heads…

08 November 2016

Highly Commended award

We are very pleased to say that Coventry University were given a ‘Highly Commended’ award at yesterday’s #BeesNeeds event. This…

12 September 2016

Sourcing plants for the Blooms for Bees border

The Blooms for Bees flower border was designed to provide food and habitat for bumblebees and other wildlife (see Designing…

06 August 2016

Designing the Blooms for Bees border

Over the summer of 2016, Blooms for Bees installed a new flower border at Ryton Organic Gardens near Coventry. We…

30 May 2016

Welcome to the Blooms for Bees project!

Welcome to the new Blooms for Bees project website. We hope you like the site and find it both useful…