…a blog written by Buglife Kernow Wyls Conservation Assistant, Dr. Will Hawkes
Sun-soaked sand, blue Cornish skies, surfers whooping in the surf. Seals wallowing in the shallows, Choughs swirling above, Godrevy lighthouse watching on. The north Cornish coastline of Gwithian is the epitome of idyllic. But let’s ignore the beach. Let’s go to the wildflower meadows inland.
For years there has been a small patch of Red Bartsia (Odontites vernus) flowers in a field about a kilometre back from the beach. Red Bartisa flowers are pretty things. Small and straggly with narrow leaves lined up opposite each other on the stem. The flowers are pinkish and really quite tiny but so important to the next character we’re going to meet. The Red Bartsia Bee (Melitta tricincta). Now this is a rare creature, especially down here in Cornwall. In fact, it was only in 2022 that this species was rediscovered in Cornwall after 20 years of no records. They are a nationally scarce species in Britain with their strongholds in the South East. This bee relies completely on Red Bartsia flowers as they collect pollen and nectar pretty much exclusively from this plant.
Hundreds of years ago when Red Bartsia plants were common and wildflower meadows abounded, this wasn’t a risky survival strategy. But since the industrial revolution, wildflower meadows have become vanishingly scarce (a 98% decline) and so too has the bee’s food source.
This is where Buglife steps in. After the rediscovery of the bee in 2022, our North Cornwall B-Lines project collected seed of Red Bartsia plants from the above mentioned field and sowed them at Godrevy Farm, managed by the National Trust. Over the next three years, the plants grew and set down their roots. They were seemingly healthy but their bee pollinator was missing.
Until the summer of 2025.
One hot July day entomologist Paddy Saunders, National Trust Ranger Nick Holden and Volunteer Countryside Ranger Emile Crosby-Wilsher were checking the Red Bartsia meadows when something small caught their eye. A lightning quick net swing and… yes. A bee. A small grey bee with light bands on her abdomen, caught while feeding from the flowers. A Red Bartsia Bee at the new meadows!
This was an incredibly exciting discovery. There is over a kilometre of distance between the newly sown meadows at Godrevy Farm and the previous bee population, and there are no Red Bartsia patches between the two. Nobody knew whether this tiny bee could make that journey to colonise new lands but here was the proof. This discovery was the direct result of the conservation work performed by Buglife and the National Trust.
“I was extremely pleased to find Red Bartsia Bee at Godrevy National Trust this year,” says Paddy. “We found both males and females which was great as this indicated the bee had colonised following us sowing the foodplant. This is good evidence that simple interventions to conserve threatened bees can be effective very quickly.”
It is actually really interesting that the bee was able to sniff out the flowers so fast. And sniff out is accurate as they probably smelt the flower scent on the breeze and followed it to the plants. Bees don’t have noses like we humans do. To smell, they use their antennae. Each segment of their antennae are filled with hundreds if not thousands of sensilla to detect the chemical compounds in the air. Antennae are really important to bees; in addition to sniffing out flowers, they also need them to detect potential mates or predators. If we stop and think, that this tiny bee was able to colonise the new meadows is a remarkable feat. They were able to smell the scent of a flower from over a kilometre away, and then actually fly to get there. A journey equivalent to a human travelling six marathons back to back. Such impressive little creatures.
After years of decline, this bee and the other insect pollinators in this area are expected to experience an uptick in their fortunes through the humans restoring their habitat.
Nick Holden, said, “We are absolutely delighted to be continuing the B-Lines partnership work with Buglife. It is inspiring to work with such a knowledgeable and dedicated organisation. Working together with local landowners, schools and volunteers has delivered great results in our grasslands, enhancing species richness and increasing habitats for specialist bees that are under threat in the landscape. We are committed to continue this successful project long into the future so that incredible species such as the Red Bartsia Bee may expand their range on the Cornish coast.”
Habitat connectivity is vital for pollinators and other animals, but habitat connectivity is extremely low in Britain. The good news is that there is another Buglife project in Cornwall dedicated to restoring this connectivity, a project named Kernow Wyls, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Project Officer Scott Martins tells us more “Kernow Wyls is restoring the equivalent of 33 football pitches worth of wildflower meadows back to the Cornish coasts. This will continue to support the recovery of pollinating insects – like the Red Bartsia Bee. We have lots of opportunities for local communities and landowners to get involved!”
Over the next 18 months Kernow Wyls will be running insect identification workshops, habitat restoration days, as well as providing opportunities to meet some of our most species insect species. We can also offer one to one landowner advice on improving farmland, small holdings and community green spaces within our B-Lines network to help best support our pollinating insects.
To find out more and get involved, please visit buglife.org.uk/projects/kernow-wyls-people-for-pollinators or email [email protected].
Main Image Credit: Red Bartsia (Odontites vernus) © Will Hawkes