New paper: the benefits of better designed wildflower mixes

13 January 2023 - Published by Baastian Blauw

A new paper shows the benefits of better designed wildflower mixes compared to standard mixes.

These results were published as part of the PhD study of Rachel Nichols which was supervised by our BEESPOKE project coordinator John Holland and bumblebee conservation expert Dave Goulson.

For the study two novel wildflower mixes were created and trialled against to standard wildflower mixes. The study's aim was to find out which mix attracted the highest pollinator abundance and highest species richness for wild bees. The results showed that the newly created wildflower mix based on primary research attracted the highest number of total insect visitors as well as the highest wild bee abundance and richness. 

The full paper can be found here: 

Nichols, R.N., Holland, J.M. & Goulson, D. (2022) A novel farmland wildflower seed mix attracts a greater abundance and richness of pollinating insects than standard mixes. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 1–15.