AHW1: Bumblebird mix

Duration; 3 years
How much you’ll be paid; £747 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s an established multi-annual mix of seed-bearing crops and flower species which:

• is growing in blocks or strips
• produces small seeds for farmland birds from late autumn until late winter
• produces areas of pollen and nectar-rich flowering plants during the growing season

The purpose of this is to:

• provide food resources for farmland birds and nectar feeding insects, such as bumble bees, solitary bees, butterflies and hoverflies
• increase biodiversity
• support an integrated pest management approach if located close to cropped areas

Where you can do this action

You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that’s:

• an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’ in the SFI scheme information)
• registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
• declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover

This is a ‘limited area’ action. The total eligible area you enter into any combination of one or more of the ‘limited area’ actions must not be more than 25% of the total agricultural area of your farm. Read section 1.3 ‘SFI actions with a limited area’ in the SFI scheme information for more details (including a list of ‘limited area’ actions).

Eligible land

Eligibility of protected land

Available area you can enter into this action

Part of the available area in a land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This action is rotational or static. This means you can either:

• move its location for the second year or third year of this action’s duration
• do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration

What to do

You must establish a bumblebird mix as a block or strip on land entered into this action.

You must use a seed mix which as a minimum includes both:

• 6 flower species
• 6 seed-bearing crops, with a maximum of 3 cereal crops from barley, oats, rye, triticale and wheat

Once the bumblebird mix block or strip is established, you must maintain it. To do this, you must manage it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You must not apply pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, or nettles.

You can maintain an existing bumblebird mix block or strip to get paid for this action if it:

• meets this action’s requirements
• is not already being paid for under another environmental land management scheme option, such as Countryside Stewardship option AB16 (autumn sown bumblebird mix)

When to do it

You must:

• establish the bumblebird mix block or strip between early spring and early autumn, within 12 months of this action’s start date
• maintain the mix at the same location for a period of time that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim – this will usually be until the end of the second summer after sowing
• after this period of time, re-establish the bumblebird mix block or strip between early spring and early autumn (either at the same location or a different location) and maintain it until this action’s end date

How to do it

It’s up to you how you do this action, as long as you:

• follow this action’s requirements – these are identified by a ‘must’
• do the action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim

You may find it helpful to read the ‘advice to help you do this action’, but it’s not part of this action’s requirements.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action, such as:

• field operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices, including details of the seed mix used
• photographs or other documentation

If it’s not clear that you’ve done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, we may ask for this evidence. You must supply the evidence if we ask for it.

Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action

You can do the following actions or options on the same area in a land parcel as this action. Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they’re done at a different time of year to this action. For example, winter cover followed by a summer companion crop. Read ‘What to do’ and ‘When to do it’ to find out when this action must be done.

If an action or option cannot be located on the same area, you may be able to do it on a different area in the same land parcel. Read section 6 ‘Eligible land in other funding schemes’ in the SFI scheme information for more details.  .

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:

• SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2 and WBD2
• SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
• CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
• the introductory level of the SFI pilot hedgerows standard

Advice to help you do this action

The following advice may help you to do this action, but it’s not part of this action’s requirements.

Choosing a seed mix

This action explains the minimum requirement for the seed mix (under ‘What to do’).

You can choose to sow a seed mix containing more flower species and seed-bearing crops than this action requires. Using an enhanced mix can be beneficial as it retains more flower species for longer and is likely to mean less frequent re-sowing. It can also help to provide a more varied mix of flowers for beneficial insects.

Examples of autumn-sown and spring-sown seed mixes are shown in the following tables.

Table 1: Example of an autumn-sown seed mix

Table 2: Example of a spring-sown seed mix

Your seed supplier can help you choose a seed mix that’s the best match for your land and local conditions.

Where to sow the seed mix

When you establish the bumblebird mix, by law you cannot cultivate or apply fertilisers or pesticides to land within 2m of the centre of a hedgerow. Read the guidance on Hedgerow management rules; buffer strips to understand how these rules apply to you.

You can sow the seed mix in blocks or strips on most soil types. This action also works well on heavier soils where spring-sowing of winter bird food is challenging.

As with conventional crops, more seeds and flowers will be produced if you sow it on better ground. It will usually help to benefit most pollinators if you choose a more sheltered site that faces south or west.

Try to avoid sites with high weed burdens to reduce competition from aggressive weeds such as thistles, blackgrass and sterile brome.

You can use larger blocks or strips (between around 04 hectares (ha) and 5ha) to:

• make them easier to manage
• provide food for seed-eating farmland birds longer into the winter
• help insects to move to safety when neighbouring crops are treated

How and when to sow the seed mix

Your seed supplier can advise you on an overall sowing rate for the seed mix you choose.

It will usually help the seeds to germinate if you sow the seed mix:

• into a seedbed that’s firm, consolidated, fine, level and weed free
• when the weather and soil moisture is suitable for the crops in your seed mix – this will usually be in May or June for spring-sown mixes, and from late August to mid-September for autumn-sown mixes

You can either:

• broadcast the seeds onto the surface of the seedbed to help germination
• shallow-drill the seeds up to a depth of 1 centimetre (cm) – small seeds usually struggle to germinate when sown deeper than 1cm

After you have sown the seed mix, you can roll the seeds (if the soil is dry enough) to improve:

• seed-to-soil contact
• retain moisture
• reduce the risk of slug damage

Managing the bumblebird mix blocks or strips during establishment

Around 4 weeks after sowing, it’s advisable to check the block or strip for germination. If establishment is poor, you may need to re-sow part or all the block or strip. Your seed supplier can help you if you’re unsure what to do.

Maintaining established blocks or strips

Once the block or strip is established, this action requires you to maintain it by managing it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

To help you achieve this action’s aim, you can leave the block or strip uncut until the second spring after sowing. If it was sown:

• in spring of calendar year 1, this will be spring in calendar year 2
• in autumn of calendar year 1, this will be spring in calendar year 3

It’s advisable not to cut the block or strip after you have fed the seed-producing crops over winter.

Cutting the block or strip in March or April can help you:

• control weeds
• encourage earlier flowering
• remove the previous year’s vegetation

Try to avoid grazing the area as this can reduce the amount of:

• small seeds over winter
• pollen and nectar-rich flowers during spring, summer and autumn

Re-sowing bumblebird blocks or strips

If you’re maintaining an existing bumblebird block or strip to meet this action, you’re required to re-sow the mix between early spring and early autumn. This is explained under ‘When to do it’.

It’s advisable to re-sow the mix around 24 months after the original sowing date.

To improve your soil’s health, you can allow time to incorporate any legume biomass before sowing the next crop in August.

If you’re planning to sow a spring-sown crop, you can leave the bumblebird mix in the ground over winter to maximise the nutrient and soil health benefits of the sown plants.