Study finds that bees need food up to a month earlier than provided by recommended pollinator plants

New research from the Universities of Oxford and Exeter has revealed that plant species recommended as ‘pollinator friendly’* in Europe begin flowering up to a month too late in the spring to effectively contribute to wild bee conservation. This ‘hungry gap’ results in low colony survival, however enhancing existing hedgerows with early blooming species could be an effective strategy to combat this. The findings have been published in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity.