Olympic Park

[Bridget]

Wonderful plantings of banks of flowers at Olympic Park . Poppies, cornflowers and lots more I can't name. Very few insects though, an occasional bee or bumble bee. Should have had some hives in there. We were in. The athletics stadium on Sat night which was goosebumps tingling and ear ringingly loud.

[Jon]

At our queen rearing group last week we discussed whether grafting larvae should be introduced as an olympic event.
The consensus was that it should be done against the clock, competitors dressed up as smurfs, while sitting on a floating platform which tips over if you don't get the larva into the cup within 30 seconds.
Commentary by Stuart Hall of course.

[Bridget]

1202 these are the flowers at Olympic Park

[GRIZZLY]

1202 these are the flowers at Olympic Park

Look like corn marigolds.

[HJBee]

I can't see them well enough to be sure but think they are coreopsis. I know they planted a lot of those.

[gavin]

Derelict sites in East London are supposed to be havens for two rare species of bumble bee. There is something on this Buglife page:

http://www.buglife.org.uk/conservation/currentprojects/Habitats+Action/Brownfields

Can't help wondering whether the Olympic tidyings-up have impacted on them. Planting flower beds is a good gesture but doesn't necessarily make up for the loss of nesting habitat. But I don't know.

[Bridget]

I agree Gavin. You look at all the new plantings, trees, grasses and meadow plants etc in Livingston (a new town). We spend 3 days a week there for work and when I'm walking the dog, on the byng or through the park or between the industrial sites I rarely see much in the way of insects.

[Neils]

I know Bristol University have been running a project around the city to plant attractive borders and flower beds that are also of use to pollinating insects (not just bees), with a bit of luck maybe they were involved in it.

Stacks of bumbles, beetles and other insects (including the bitey ones!) around here at the moment.

[GRIZZLY]

Have they still got the wild flower plantings on roundabouts same as last year??

[madasafish]

In Cheshire the Council cut down the wild flower verges..

Mind you, they do lots of stupid things in East Cheshire: it's the inbreeding :-)