Library Talks | Bumblebees in Cornwall

Our second talk this month will be from Pip Cook, Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s SW Project Officer, for an introduction to the bumblebees we can find in Cornwall. The talk will be taking place in the Reading Room at 2pm on Wednesday 28th August and will be part of a celebration of bees at the Library taking place throughout that day (find out more in this blog post). In Pip’s role, she is particularly focusing on the Moss carder bumblebee (Bombus muscorum), one of the rarest and most threatened bumblebee species in the UK. It is a beautiful ginger-tailed bumblebee with a short velvety coat that was once widespread in the UK and is now found mostly in small, fragmented populations. The project involves collecting data on the Moss carder’s abundance and distribution at two key sites on Cornwall’s north coast, Penhale and Gwithian and Upton Towans and finding out more about its habitat needs. Bumblebee Conservation Trust hope this information will inform our conservation practices and hopefully help to reverse the Moss carder bumblebee’s decline. Tickets are allocated by a ballot system. Please email enquiries@morrablibrary.org.uk or call 01736 364474 to be entered into the ballot for a ticket. The ballot closes on Monday 19th August. Entry to this event is free but donations are welcomed to help support The Morrab Library (suggested £5). Refreshments will be provided after the talk. (Bumblebee photo credit Nick Withers)