The Bumblebee & Butterfly Workshop was held at An Gáirdín on June 7th. This was in conjunction with the monitoring scheme conducted by Biodiversity Ireland to collect data on the species. A fascinating day packed with information was facilitated by Dr Tomás Murray from the National Biodiversity Data Centre; his enthusiasm for the project was overflowing. Instructions on capture, examination, identification and release were outlined. The information gathered nationally is fed into a European data base to give an overall picture of their health, abundance, vulnerability and rarity. The fecundity of bumblebees and butterflies can be directly correlated with climate change.

                                  BUMBLEBEES                                      BUTTERFLIES
IRELAND          20 species 32% under threat                 34 species 18% under threat
EUROPE          68 species 24% under threat                482 species 9% under threat

There were many bumblebees & butterflies to be seen at An Gáirdín on the day of the workshop. It was fascinating to see the various behavioural patterns of the different genders demonstrating their known habits.
It was a most enjoyable and informative day and the participants at An Gáirdín would like to record their appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Tomás Murray.