Have you ever wondered where bumblebees live, why there are fewer than there used to be, and what you can do to help them? As part of the North Coast 500 Wildlife Festival, this one day Beginners' workshop will give you an introduction to the ecology and identification of bumblebees. We’ll hear presentations in the morning at Castlehill, followed by an afternoon site visit around the beautiful gardens and heritage flagstone trail. The course will be useful for anyone wishing to find out about bumblebees and improve their identification skills.

Venue… Read more

This Residential workshop on plant-pollinator monitoring (led by Damien Hicks, Graham Stone and Pierre Ouverard) will focus on taxonomic identification, robust field survey and inference, and floral assay for pollen and nectar. We will cater for all levels of experience and all are welcome. Please feel free to use our growing image collection of UK flower visitor specimens at https://www.flickr.com/photos/132220632@N04/sets/

RESIDENT (SOLE OCCUPANCY): £325 RESIDENT (SHARED ROOM): £295 NON-RESIDENT: £225

Location:  Millport

Times: 17:00 - 16:00… Read more

Bees, hoverflies and other pollinating insects play an enormously important role in natural habitats and agricultural systems alike. Some pollinators are known to be declining, and their conservation is a cause for concern. This course (led by Martin Harvey) introduces the insects that play a role in pollination, helping you to recognise them, understand how they interact with flowering plants, and find out how to play your part in conserving them.

Location:  Epping Forest 

Level: Intermediate

NON-RESIDENT: £42

This course runs from 09… Read more

Bees, hoverflies and other pollinating insects play an enormously important role in natural habitats and agricultural systems alike. Some pollinators are known to be declining, and their conservation is a cause for concern. This course (led by Martin Harvey) introduces the insects that play a role in pollination, helping you to recognise them, understand how they interact with flowering plants, and find out how to play your part in conserving them.

Venue: London Projects

Level: Beginners

NON-RESIDENT: £37

Bookings can be made via the FSC… Read more

This intermediate residential course (led by Ian Cheeseborough) will introduce participants to the identification and ecology of solitary bees including nesting and foraging requirements, hosts and associated aculeate nest parasites. Introduction to the identification of genera and species will be through a combination of presentations, field visits and microscope workshops using keys and prepared specimens. By the end of the course participants should be more confident in identifying the more commonly encountered families and genera.

Location: Flatford Mill

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This short, introductory course (led by Ian Cheeseborough) is for anyone who would like to learn about the identification and ecology of solitary wasps. Time will be spent in the field observing and discussing the requirements of a variety of genera found around the Centre grounds. There will also be an opportunity to study and identify prepared specimens to species level using a variety of entomological keys.

Location:  Preston Montford 

Level: Open for Everyone

NON-RESIDENT: £35

Bookings can be made by telephoning… Read more

This short, introductory course (led by Ian Cheeseborough) is for anyone who would like to learn about the identification and ecology of these social insects. The day will include indoor and field sessions concentrating on the identification and ecology of the more commonly encountered species found in the Centre grounds.

Location:  Preston Montford
Level: Open for Everyone

NON-RESIDENT: £35

Bookings can be made by telephoning the Centre; (open 0930 – 1700) weekdays and most weekends. Alternatively, bookings can be made via… Read more

An introduction to the ecology and identification of several commonly encountered genera of solitary bees. This residential course, led by Ian Cheeseborough, will include field visits to quality sites will include discussions of habitat preferences and nesting and foraging requirements. Evening presentations and the opportunity to study prepared specimens should give participants a good introduction to these fascinating insects.

Location:  Preston Montford

Level: Open for Everyone

RESIDENT (SOLE OCCUPANCY): £258 RESIDENT (SHARED… Read more

This bumblebee identification day course will be field based and led by Ian Cheeseborough. At the end of the course everyone should be able to confidently identify some of the commonly encountered species in the wider countryside and have an understanding of their ecology and conservation.

Location: Preston Montford 
Level: Open for Everyone
NON-RESIDENT: £35

Bookings can be made by telephoning the Centre; (open 0930 – 1700) weekdays and most weekends. Alternatively, bookings can be made via the FSC website: www.field-studies-council.org

This long weekend, intermediate course (led by Paul Lee) is designed for countryside professionals and amateur naturalists interested in learning more about these important and threatened insects. It is particularly suitable for anyone involved in biological recording schemes at a local or county level. Field excursions will enable you to become fully familiar with the key identification features of the more common species of bumblebee, as well as several species of parasitic cuckoo bumblebee. This will then help you recognise the rarer species. Workshop sessions will… Read more