Talks by Dr Bernard Vaissière - Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Are cities a refuge for bees?

Is it possible that Europe’s urban-dwellers now have a particular responsibility for bees and other pollinating insects?

The decline of honeybees has been much covered in the media, but destruction of flower-rich habitat, use of potentially harmful pesticides and large areas of single crops with limited food and shelter are issues that affect all of Europe’s 2000 bee species. As wild bees account for an estimated two thirds of crop pollination the declines witnessed in wild bees should be of great concern.

Although our farmland may have become increasingly inhospitable to wildlife, research is now demonstrating that urban areas can provide good habitat for a wide range of wild bees and other pollinators. Join Dr Bernard Vaissière to explore the evidence that bees can coexist with people in urban areas.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

20A Inverleith Row, EH3 5LR

Talk at the RBGE on Monday 9^th March 2015 11.00 am – 12.30pm, only on invitation, with Maggie Keegan of the Scottish Wildlife Trust will chair a panel discussion including: Dr Graham Stone, University of Edinburgh, David Jamieson, City of Edinburgh Council, and Matt Shardlaw, Buglife

Talk at the John Hope Gateway on Monday 9th March 2015 7.30pm - 9.30pm, free access, for the Edinburgh Cafe Scientifique.