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Sorry, hardly an original pun I know! I was lucky enough to be a part of the March of the Beekeepers event in London today. We got a great turnout - beekeepers, gardeners and others, many in fantastically creative costumes. I'm not going to try to guess numbers but we certainly made a big impact...

The weather dictates everything in farming whether you are an arable or livestock farmer. For us as an arable farm cultivations, spraying operations and harvesting are all at the mercy of the weather. Crop growth is also very much affected by the weather. © Andy Hay, RSPB Images When wheat...

If you're following the debate on neonicotinoids, or you're interested in the health of our nation's bees, this one's for you. The charity 'Sense About Science' have assembled a panel of experts for a live online Q+A about bees and pesticides. The live session will take place...

The debate over neonicotinoids continues, with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently publishing a scientific opinion on the risks posed by three of the main neonicotinoids on the market. For anyone not familiar with the subject: neonicotinoids are a group of pesticides widely used in...

By Nick Tomalin, Wessex Farmland Projects Manager Image courtesy of RSPB Images. Spreading hedge parsley. As an enthusiastic nine year old I was always looking up. Partly this was down to a cheery disposition, partly because I was shorter than everyone else at that age, and partly it was due...

Don’t you find that the world always seems better when you’re out in the fresh air, enjoying the steady arrival of spring? We outdoor types on the Eastern England farmland advisory team certainly think so. Looking at various winged things with RSPB and Buglife farmland bods ...

If you want to help corn buntings what do they need? A load of large bodied insects during the breeding season is a good start. What about Tree sparrows? Well a good supply of water borne invertebrates makes for tasty meals for any young tree sparrow. Making room for farmland birds on a farm requires...

Have you ever wondered why flowers make people smile? Many things that make us happy are things that promote our survival - a good square meal, a thirst-quenching drink on a sunny day. But what about flowers? Sure they’re nice to look at, but you can’t really live off them, or use them...

While everyone else is away at Cereals (my first year off for a while!) I’d like to take a sneaky moment to share some of my joys from last weekend’s bird surveying (and some doubts over next weekend’s surveys on the coast if this weather continues). I’ve been getting snappy...

Any flower-rich habitats on the farm will look at their best over the next few months, both in terms of the spectacle of the flowers themselves and the associated insects, including butterflies and bumblebees, which rely on them. Peter Thompson (Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust) told me that any...