Launch of Mayo project for conservation of the Great Yellow Bumblebee
The Mullet Peninsula is home to Ireland’s rarest bee – the Great Yellow Bumblebee (Bombus distinguendus) – and is one of very few places in Europe with a sustainable population.
Baile Slachtmhar Bhéal an Mhuirthead (Belmullet Tidy Towns) have been endeavouring for some years to create an awareness of the wealth of wildlife to be found in the area, the importance of bees to pollination, and are concerned about the decline in bee populations.
Working in conjunction with UCD, the National Biodiversity Data Centre, Mayo County Council and Birdwatch Ireland, the community group have been doing everything they can to show what can be done to help the Great Yellow Bumblebee and other pollinators.
Therefore, it is a fantastic achievement for the area that Mayo County Council and Baile Slachtmhar Bhéal an Mhuirthead have together launched a European Innovation Partnership Project (EIPP) for conservation of the Great Yellow Bumblebee. EIP projects bring together expertise (advisers and researchers) to work in partnership with farmers to consider how to practically solve problems in the agri-food industry.
Dr. Margaret Tallott, a volunteer with Baile Slachtmhar Bhéal an Mhuirthead, expressed delight that healthy populations of the Great Yellow Bumblebee have been observed on the mainland during recent preliminary surveys by Dr. Dara Stanley and PhD Researchers from UCD.
She said: “This is great news and it supports the main aim of the project, which is to create ‘Beelines to Belmullet and Beyond’. The project will build on the work of Niamh Phelan, Dave Suddaby and Dara Stanley.”
Niamh spent a lot of time carrying out research on the Great Yellow Bumblebee on the Mullet Peninsula in 2019 (kindly hosted by a volunteer of Belmullet Tidy Towns, Eva Reilly) while she studied an MSc in wildlife conservation and management (UCD). She was supervised by assistant professor in applied entomology, Dr. Dara Stanley, from UCD (School of Agriculture and Food Science).
Dave Suddaby, meanwhile, is a BirdWatch Ireland conservation officer and reserves manager, based on the Mullet Peninsula and Termoncarragh Lake SPA, who has had great success with the restoration of the Annagh Marsh Reserve and the ultimate return of breeding red-necked phalaropes.
Through their work, Phelan, Stanley and Suddaby have investigated how connectivity can be created between farms and public land, including Belmullet town, to create species-rich grassland and coastal grassland habitats with red clover, kidney vetch and common knapweed. This will allow for the dispersal of the Great Yellow Bumblebee species, supporting its range expansion. If connections can be made between farms and other patches of land, the project can build on creating a network of landowners and guardians of public lands who can share learning and knowledge between them and improve the outcome for the Great Yellow Bumblebee and many other species.
Margaret Tallott of Baile Slachtmhar Bhéal an Mhuirthead summarised how this project can help to improve the population of the Great Yellow Bumblebee outside of Belmullet and potentially throughout Ireland.
“Bees don’t travel by road,” she said. “They need to move to and from pollinator-friendly areas. If we can all work together to create more pollinator-friendly areas (e.g. don’t cut areas with red clover, kidney vetch and common knapweed), then the bees will thrive and they will travel further and further. Put quite simply, we need to create ‘Beelines to Belmullet and Beyond’.”
At the launch of this new project, Eva Reilly of Baile Slachtmhar Bhéal an Mhuirthead acknowledged the support of Mayo County Council and in particular Councillor Sean Carey (chair of the agriculture strategic policy committee), who highlighted the vital role of farmers in the conservation of the Great Yellow Bumblebee.
The work of Dave Suddaby was also acknowledged and appreciated – he was the first person to formally identify the Great Yellow Bumblebee on the Mullet Peninsula.
Peter Gill (parks superintendent with Mayo County Council), who has been a driving force for this initiative, expressed his gratitude to everyone involved and acknowledged the vital importance of the local community and the farming sector in its success, as well as the role of the researchers and experts, including local agricultural advisor Noel Walsh, all of whom are of crucial importance to this unique project.
There is a wealth of information available online about how we can all do our bit to help the Great Yellow Bumblebee. Examples include www.pollinators.ie and www.tidytownsbelmullet.ie (currently undergoing reconstruction). All over Belmullet town you will see signs in patches of grass and on the roadside saying ‘Managed for Wildlife’ – these are just a few of the areas that Baile Slachtmhar Bhéal an Mhuirthead are keeping uncut (or cutting less frequently) in order to help the pollinators, including the Great Yellow Bumblebee.