Well we had the butterfly bunting, and it’s another rainy day, so I guess it’s a good time for bee bunting! You can download the pattern from the Bucks Buzzing resources area, if you want to recreate it at home.
I made this British bee bunting last year as part of my Bucks Buzzing stall that I take to various events all across the county. I really enjoy doing events and I have missed it during lockdown. I like to talk about pollinating insects to anyone who will listen, but I really love hearing what other people have to say about their home gardens, or unusual insects they’ve seen. I’ve also really noticed a shift in the last year or so: I used to get asked a lot of things like “where do I start?” and “what are pollinating insects? why do they matter?” whereas now, people are telling me what they are doing in their garden already and asking “what more can I do?” I think that’s fabulous that we’re becoming more aware and trying to do more for our environment and for wildlife.
There is one question that remains the same, however, and that’s “what is this thing I saw?!” followed by either a photo on a phone or sometimes just an approximate description! (“I think it was a bee, it was black, with some white or maybe some yellow, and it was huge!”) I love trying to work out what it might be and I’m always trying to improve my identification skills.
If we ever get back to events after lockdown, keep the questions coming! Or you can send them to me on @BucksBuzzing on Twitter or Instagram.
