Helping our pollinators

There are not many wild flowers in my field margins at this time of year. Are there things that I could plant to support the pollinators into the autumn?

This reduction in flowers as autumn proceeds is a natural thing, and many species of pollinators are adapted to cope with it. Most butterflies have their season and overwinter either as dormant hibernating adults or as pupae hiding in sheltered places. Similarly, most of our wild bees have their annual cycle, with adults going into hibernation once the life cycle is complete. So, for example, bumblebee colonies break down from as early as July, depending on the species, with the new young queens hibernating and emerging in spring to start new colonies.

This really only leaves our domestic honeybees and the later