Identifying Bumblebees

This course is fully booked on this date but you can join the waiting list (by scrollling to the bottom of the page) in case space becomes available or it is run on another date.

This long weekend course is designed for countryside professionals and amateur naturalists interested in learning more about these important and threatened insects. It is particularly suitable for anyone involved in biological recording schemes at a local or county level.

Field excursions will enable you to become fully familiar with the key identification features of the more common species of bumblebee as well as several species of parasitic cuckoo bumblebee. This will then help you recognise the rarer species.

Workshop sessions will introduce the preparation of voucher specimens and the features used in the identification of preserved specimens. An evening presentation will also provide an insight into the life cycle and ecology of bumblebees.

This is an accredited course linked to the University of Birmingham Certificate in Biological Recording and Species Identification (full 10 credits). You may therefore have your learning assessed if you wish.

The content is also appropriate for anyone wishing to contribute to their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements.

We’re also aware that this course runs during the first weekend of the London Olympic Games and a TV will be available for those who want time out to watch an event or two!

Paul Lee is an experienced adult education tutor and an ecological consultant specialising in invertebrate ecology and conservation. Each year he regularly leads a suite of invertebrate identification courses here at Flatford Mill.

‘Paul is very knowledgeable, patient and helpful’. Course participant October 2010.

Further Information

View your basket