| On Topic
Mustard
farmers join
forces to
protect British
honey bees
A cooperative of 18 mustard farmers have joined
forces to embark on the UK’s biggest ever project
to protect and eventually boost pollinator
populations.
he English Mustard Growers
(EMG), a farm collective based
in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire
and Norfolk which supply seed
to the Colman’s English
Mustard brand, are working in
partnership with crop production specialists,
Hutchinsons, to map the availability of nectar
and pollen throughout the year.
The aim of the project is to ensure
pollinators, such a honey bees, receive a
steady supply of food resources, which will in
turn support crop yields. The ten year project,
which began in 2014, is the biggest of its kind
in the UK, covering a total of 10,000 hectares of
land, and is fully supported by the British
Beekeepers Association. (BBKA)
Now two years into the project the EMG have
been busy growing a variety of plant species,
including bulbs, shrubs, hedges and wild
flowers across their farmland, to ensure
pollinators have enough nectar and pollen
supply before hibernation at the end of autumn.
Autumn and spring months are crucial for the
T
12 | Farming Monthly | November 2016
survival of honey bees as this is when nectar
and pollen supply is at its lowest.
In a bid to enhance nectar and pollen supply,
the farmers participating in the project have
planted a total of 21,000 flowering bulbs within
their hedgerows, ditches and field margins.
One of the participating farms has also planted
over 500 native hedge species and plans to
grow over 200 shrubs a year to re-generate the
surrounding woodland.
This comes after survey results revealed the
importance of hedges and shrubs to nectar and
pollen supply as well as being safe places for
bees to breed and escape predators. Over the
autumn period, participating farms intend to
grow over 13 hectares of flower rich margins
and 3.5 hectares of pollen and nectar mix
plants which will provide bees will a supply of
food throughout next spring and summer.
The project has also importantly inspired
farmers to work collectively to connect their
land to create extensive wildlife corridors. To
date, a total of 85 kilometres of hedgerows and
just over 380 kilometres of grass margins, in
which many of the new plant varieties are being
grown, have been established. This is the
equivalent distance of over two laps on the
M25. The longer term ambition of the project is
to help protect pollinator populations and boost
the broader biodiversity within the region.
In addition to maintaining and eventually
improving pollinator populations, the project
will also help protect crop yields and boost
British agriculture. Michael Sly, Chairman of
the English Mustard Growers explains: “One of
our mustard varieties, White Mustard (Gedney),
depends entirely on pollinators, such as bees,
for its pollination during flowering time. This,
coupled with the significant role bees play in
our wider ecosystem, makes this a particularly
important area for us to support.”
Delving further into the science behind the
project, each of the participating farms
underwent a detailed survey in which a botanist
calculated the total amount of pollen and nectar
available in crops, hedgerows, woodland and
field margins. The data was then used to
estimate the amount of pollen and nectar
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