[I wrote this for my local allotment newsletter, and it felt like as good a place as any to restart blogging!]
I joined the allotmenteering community as a plotholder last July. My parents always had an allotment when I was growing up, and now with a toddler of our own, we wanted her to understand more about where food came from (as well as helping to get us all out of the house!).
When I started weeding and digging, I was thrilled to discover that, along with rhubarb and a magnificent blackcurrant bush, Plot 5 also came with a nest of the rare Brown-banded Carder bumblebee Bombus humilis (and at no extra cost!).
I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. In many ways, allotments and bees are a match made in heaven. Allotments comprise of a vast range of (mostly) flowering plant species in close proximity, which provides pollen and nectar virtually year-round to bees, flies, and other pollinators, and in return those flowers are pollinated for free for us growers.
The wider countryside can often be a pretty hostile place for bees, whose two simple needs – flowers and nesting sites – can often be virtually eradicated over entire landscapes. I’m sure we’re all aware of the issues with pesticide use, but fertiliser is often just as bad – it produces lush, green ryegrass swards with wild flowers unable to force their way into the monoculture. Frequent mowing – as often seen on roadside verges – cuts off buds before they open into flowers. Fumes from motor vehicles can mask floral scents, making foraging more difficult and time-consuming. Climate change alters weather patterns, often for the worse.
But in an allotment, most of that no longer applies. A large area with a diverse mix of fruit, vegetables, and herbs means that not only is there enough pollen and nectar to go round, but the variety in flower shape, colour, and blooming times means the preferences of multiple different species can be catered to. Spring-flying species like the Tree bumblebee, Early bumblebee, or Ashy mining bee will pollinate a totally different set of flowers (they love summer-fruiting raspberries!) to late-summer species such as my Brown-banded Carders (or the more widespread Common Carder bumblebee). Long-tongued species such as the Garden Bumblebee like long, tubular flowers, and will pollinated the lions’ share of your pumpkin, squash and courgettes. Smaller species tend to preferentially visit flat, open flowers such as strawberries All 270 British bee species have subtly different flower preferences, different flight times – diversity (of both bees and flowers) – is essential.
Of course, the more pollinators that are present, the more pollination that happens, and the better the harvest – more pollination doesn’t just mean more fruit and veg, but is scientifically linked to higher-quality produce as well. Some pollinator species such as hoverflies will even help reduce pests by eating greenfly as larvae. Allotments can be pollinator sanctuaries, supporting them with diverse planting, nesting opportunities, and pesticide-free environments.
Gardeners can contribute to reversing pollinator declines, while reaping the rewards of better crops. In return, pollinators ensure the productivity and sustainability of our allotments, creating that rarest of things, a win-win scenario.
