Another great summer for CPP!

As another year comes to a close, for the flowers at least, we are now mulching over the beds and putting the CPP flowers to sleep for the winter until next year when we will do it all again bigger and better than ever!

Its been a great year for The Cross Pollination Project.  We hit the airwaves in the summer when George, our man on the ground, was asked to appear on BBC Radio Kent. This enabled us to reach a whole new audience and increase the buzz around pollinating insects.

On the 25th of July, we held another survey workshop at Grosvenor and Hilbert Park with temperatures into the high 20’s, perfect for finding insects enjoying the sun …. and the flowers!

The workshop was well attended by local people and their children and we spent the day learning the different types of insects that visit our CPP beds. After this we got down to business. Armed with survey sheets, a sharpened pencil and eraser (for the inevitable number in a wrong box) all participants, no matter their age or ability, completed their own pollinating insect survey for the project. The best thing that came out of this was seeing everyone able to identify species that they didn’t know existed before they arrived.

The participants were given a starter pack to take away and begin their journey into independent surveying. Since then we have received a steady flow of survey results which will be used to learn about the foraging habits of pollinating insects and allow us all to make more thoughtful decisions when buying flowers for our gardens.

Stay tuned …… !!

If you would like to get involved with surveying the beds in summer 2019 please get in touch.

Below is a pdf version of the CPP Survey kit that you can download:

Data collection sheet CPP Bee ID Guide CPP Butterfly and Moth ID Guide CPP Flies and Other Insect ID Guide Example form Kids Sheet Pollinator ID Guide onepage Species Codes Instructions for Cross Pollination Project Survey  CPP Bed Maps .