Explain why this research is important to you?
Flower-visiting insects, such as bees, hoverflies and butterflies, are important pollinators of wild flowers and crop plants. However these insects are declining. If everyone who has a garden, allotment or balcony can plant flowers that are good sources of pollen and nectar we can increase the food supply for bees and other pollinating insects. To do this though, we need to know how much pollen and nectar different garden plant species contain at the flower and the whole plant level.

Bumblebee on Cosmos
What you are trying to discover through your research?
We would like to know which garden plants provide the best sources of pollen and nectar for pollinating insects. This will enable us to help gardeners and urban land managers maximise the amount of food provision for pollinating insects. Insect pollinators are under threat but we can help them by planting flowers that provide good sources of pollen and nectar throughout the whole year. Pollen and nectar data collected for garden plants will be combined with existing data for the most common wild plants to create a list of the top plant species to grow for pollinators.
What will the results tell us?
Data already collected show that the amount of nectar and pollen produced can vary greatly between the wild plant species commonly found in the countryside. We expect garden plants closer to their native form to provide greater quantities of nectar and pollen than highly bred cultivars. We have collected data on the insect species that visit garden plants and expect more frequently visited plants to produce greater quantities of pollen and nectar.

Butterfly on a Californian poppy
If you exceed your funding goal briefly explain what else you would do?
Achieving the funding goal will allow us to sample 100 common garden plants, however there are hundreds of species and varieties grown in gardens. Exceeding our funding goal will fund more field assistants and allow more species to be sampled, thus providing better information to gardeners. We will also create an app that gardeners can use to select pollinator friendly plants at different times of the year.
When you reach your goal when do you plan to start?
February 2015 to prepare to start sampling flowers from March onwards, we need to be ready to go when the first flowers start to blossom.
Press
Come Dine with Bee was featured in a news piece called “The Insects that made Christmas”.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30575208
Our infographic about the role of pollinators in our Christmas dinner was recently featured on IFLScience!
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/no-bees-no-christmas-dinner
We are offering Great Rewards!
We will also send everyone who pledges an electronic copy of the plant list.
There are lots of fantastic rewards up for grabs, all of which come with a certificate (draft example below) thanking you for supporting this important research signed by the team at University of Bristol.
Pledge £5 – A personal thank you on our twitter feed during the campaign.
Pledge £10 – Your name will be added to the supporters page on the website.
Pledge £20 – We will send you a newsletter half way through the study with an update of what we have been up to so far and you can enter a prize draw to WIN an award winning bee box!
Pledge £30 – We will send you a beautiful photograph of either flowers or pollinators or both!! The photos will be taken during the research project but below is an example of the style.

Rose chafer beetle on a hebe

This is a garden bumblebee, this bumblebee species has the longest tongue in the UK which means they are needed for pollinating flowers with long tubes such as those of field beans. Photo credit Leanne Nicholls

Small skipper on Fleabane

Volucella pellucens, one of our largest hoverflies, on a Hebe
Pledge £40 – We will send you a series of video tutorials and teach you about our findings. This will give you an opportunity to learn about pollinators. You will also have access to all of the above rewards.
Pledge £50 – Receive a photograph, video tutorial and a limited edition crocheted bee + all of the above!! This includes the video tutorials, the photograph, certificate and your name will be added to the supporters list on the website as well as a personal thank you on our twitter feed @BrisUrbPolls.

Limited edition crocheted bee as a special thank you! Makes a great present as a symbol of supporting sustainability and a cute crocheted bee!!
Pledge £150 – Come and spend the day with us in Bristol, we’ll give you the latest project news in person and a tour of our labs followed by lunch in our new ‘skylounge’ with the most amazing views across Bristol

Image of terrace, the picture doesn’t do the views justice. The views are absolutely stunning. We will post a better photo soon.
Pledge £200 – Professor Jane Memmott, Head of Biological Science will take you on a guided tour of the Bristol Botanical Gardens where you’ll learn about plants and their pollinators, followed by tea on the terrace. (Choose from two available dates to be confirmed)
Bonus Reward!! – Chance to win an award winning bee box!!!

Sponsored reward: award winning wild bee box by George Pilkington
Nurturing Nature has kindly provided a fantastic, award-winning Solitary Bee nest box (worth £64.95) that you could win if you sponsor us for £20 or more!
All you need to do is email Nurturing Nature after you have made your pledge (http://nurturing-nature.co.
Check out the video below to see the bee box in action!!
BUSINESS SPONSOR REWARDS
Pledge £5000
We’ll upload a medium sized version of your company logo onto our website and add it to the downloadable plant list as well as any leaflets created. The list will be based on the pollen and nectar data for several hundred plants and we believe this information will be in high demand from gardeners, bee keepers and urban land managers.
If you would like to discuss this business reward option please email info@walacea.com.
Pledge £10000
We’ll upload a large sized version of your company logo onto our website and add it to the downloadable plant list as well as any leaflets created. The list will be based on the pollen and nectar data for several hundred plants and we believe this information will be in high demand from gardeners, bee keepers and urban land managers.
If you would like to discuss this business reward option please email info@walacea.com.
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