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**Support the Buzz - Become a BeeWalker ** 🐝

Bumblebee Identification & BeeWalk Training Day

**At Sheepdrove Organic Farm **

30 April 2026 | 9:30 – 15:30

Join us at Sheepdrove Organic Farm for a free event hosted by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust that will equip you with the skills to identify, monitor and track bumblebee populations on two walking trails. Revisit the walks throughout the bee season until October to become part of the UK scheme to support the bees!

_This is the first event, part of a series of bee friendly events with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. _

Why support the bees?

Our natural environment is in crisis - and so are our bumblebees. Of the 24 species once found across the UK, several are already extinct and many more are in serious decline. Bees are a keystone species, as small insects they play a disproportionately large role in the health and function of global ecosystems. They significantly influence the survival and reproduction of countless plant species, facilitating processes fundamental to maintaining ecological balance, supporting diverse life forms and underpinning the natural cycles our world depends on.

But here's the thing… you can do something about it.

Count Them. Know Them. Save Them.

Join us at Sheepdrove Organic Farm for an immersive, hands-on training day that will equip you with the skills to identify, monitor and track bumblebee populations as part of the national BeeWalk monitoring programme by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

This isn't a one-off event. Volunteers trained on this day will become long-term citizen scientists, carrying forward vital survey work that feeds directly into national conservation data. Your eyes, your effort, your records, genuinely matter.

The day begins with expert-led indoor sessions covering bumblebee identification, ecology and survey methodology. Then we head outside onto specific identified walks through the fields and wildflower meadows of Sheepdrove, putting those skills into practice at the very best time of year, Spring! The first queens of the season emerge and the 2026 survey period begins and continues until October.

Every walk you complete, every species you record, builds a picture of how nature is recovering, and where more attention is required, informing the conservation decisions that will shape our landscapes for generations.

Anyone can become a BeeWalker.

All you need is some identification knowledge at this event and a few hours or so every month to walk a fixed route of around 1 mile (you choose where it goes), and submit your sightings.

What you learn that day, you carry forward for years.

Be Prepared

Please be aware that we will be walking on uneven ground and walking a distance. Bring practical clothes/walking shoes with you and a water bottle.

Don't Let the Bees Disappear on Your Watch.

Tickets are free, book your place here.

There are 20 places available.

You’re welcome to return to the farm in your own time to complete further bumblebee monitoring on the two walks, or join another guided event again in the series.

🐝 Find out more about the national monitoring programme BeeWalk: bumblebeeconservation.org/beewalk

The Programme

A morning presentation will provide an overview of the value and natural history of bumblebees and equip you with the skills you need to start identifying and recording the Britain’s most common bumblebee species. The afternoon will be spent in the field, providing an opportunity to net, pot, and identify bumblebees, consolidating your knowledge and building confidence.

9.30 - doors open, coffee/warm drinks

10.00 - start, ecology & surveying presentation

11.00 - coffee break

11.15 - start, ID presentation (Q&A at end)

12.15 – lunch break – please bring your own lunch

13.00 - field session

15.30 - close

Support the Buzz - Become a BeeWalker 🐝