"Bees, Butterflies and Blooms" BBC 2

[NickB]

Most of the programme was focussed on the inhabitants of a Northants village and their tedious council meetings

I must admit, it did remind me of that spoof 'Stonybridge' council from the comedy show 'Absolutely' a few years back.

If we only meet or deal with other like-minded people, we often forget the realities of how things work in our local communities.
After several years of dealing with local groups and councils, I can tell you that the same reticence to change exhibited in "Stontybridge" et al (sic) is widespread when it comes to changing the status quo.
Even when all involved claim to be "wildlife friendly" there always seem to be other reasons, as to why things can not be done in the ways others suggest to them - such as those from Butterfly Conservation.
My local Friends group is made-up of intelligent and mostly professional people, yet most are unable to grasp the most simple elements of what comprises an ecosystem. When I suggested that removing large numbers of bushes was counter-productive to maintaining the bio-diversity of the place, for example, as places for birds to forage, roost and nest, one of the members said, in all seriousness:
"Can't the birds just go and live in another bush?......."

It takes a lot of patience and staying-power to hang-on in there, I can assure you!

N

[Pawpawsaurus]

A few things about B, B & B annoyed me, as much on TV does these days. But on balance I thought the programme wasn't bad.

I'd never heard of Ms Raven before so I did some research. It transpires that she has a substantial business and website, selling a range of related merchandise and running expensive courses. e.g. 'Gardening for Nature and Wildlife', which lasts a whole five hours (including an hour for lunch) and costs £150. Is this the going rate for this type of course? I'd rather buy a decent book on the subject instead.

Knowng that her interest in the programme is in more than an amateur capacity has taken much of the shine off it.

Paul

[Reverdin]

I thought the Parish council scene was hilariously agonizing.. worth the watch for it's self... the silence was deafening. hahahaha

[Michaeljf]

I'd never heard of Ms Raven before so I did some research. It transpires that she has a substantial business and website, selling a range of related merchandise and running expensive courses. e.g. 'Gardening for Nature and Wildlife', which lasts a whole five hours (including an hour for lunch) and costs £150. Is this the going rate for this type of course? Paul

Hi Paul,
Well yes, if you're trying to run a business you've got to set a rate that will cover your time. £150 for 5 hours plus lunch is a fairly reasonable rate (try getting an accountant , solicitor or 'sports personality' for that rate). I don't think it takes away from the programme, after all, you weren't forced to buy any items from her...(unless you consider being forced to watch the programme and pay the licence fee)...
Michael

[Susie]

don't suppose you can remember what it was called?

I did a google because I couldn't remember exactly and it was quite a long time ago. I surprise myself at times with how good my memory is!

It was called River of Flowers and was part of Gardeners World back in 2008

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d6m4y

My only gripe is that she seems to sleep in her clothes prior to wearing them on telly.

...style and substance?
Some people are hard to please
N
..

Lol. I'm frightfully hard to please. Sarah Raven, like Kirstie Allsop, is one of those people who is frightfully posh and although her clothes look like they need a good iron I bet they cost an arm and a leg. Shabby chic definitely isn't cheap!

When people start nicknaming you Casper, Nick, you better start worrying

I don't think £150 is bad for a day's course. What would be a nightmare is the course will be full of ladies who lunch air kissing and talking about gymkhanas ...

[NickB]

Don't worry, Susie, I'll be back...to haunt them
N

[dilettante]

I watched episode 1 of this series last night. It's rather atypical for modern TV shows: not a famous presenter, no flashy camera work, and leisurely-paced. I'm not sure it will win many people over or get much of an audience, but I enjoyed it and it might make a few people think. It suffered a bit from not being able to show much of the results of people's good work, since it evidently takes a few years to establish a meadow.

Much of the background music, incidentally, was by the band The Bees (you see what they did there?) - one of my favourites

[NickB]

It would have been better scheduling to have it shown in the summer, when what she was showing would be more accessible by simply going outside.....
Perhaps they'll repeat it in the summer?
N
Nice touch with the Bees - which I did miss

[David M]

Must say that there wasn't enough in the opening episode to persuade me to tune in again.

Hopefully there won't now be a butterfly blitz in the second offering.

[dilettante]

They talked a lot about bees being pollinators and hence how important they are for our own food production, and similarly how ladybirds, wasps and hoverflies can control crop pests. But I'm not sure such a strong case can be made for the importance of butterflies, can it? Apart from bringing pleasure to us and being an indicator species of ecosystem health and biodiversity, can a case be made for claiming butterflies are important to humans (assuming that's what's needed to make people want to preserve them)?

[Gibster]

They talked a lot about bees being pollinators and hence how important they are for our own food production, and similarly how ladybirds, wasps and hoverflies can control crop pests. But I'm not sure such a strong case can be made for the importance of butterflies, can it?

I think the bulk of the pollinators, generally speaking, will be the flies and moths rather than butterflies.

If you can think of a succinct way of grabbing Joe Public's attention by using flies and moths then jolly good for you!!! Until then I think the best way to highlight the importance of pollinators is to stick with bees and butterflies.

As an aside, for a truly fascinating read have a look at A Rum Affair where John Raven, the presenter's father, plays real-life Sherlock Holmes with devastating consequences for the British botanical scene. There's a summary at http://naturalscience.com/ns/books/book08.html

Cheers,

Gibster.

[NickB]

...I think that concentrating on allowing/planting wild-flower areas to grow, providing habitat for the pollinators,etc is a good angle - the butterflies are almost a positive side-effect of having those areas....
N

[Matsukaze]

As an aside, for a truly fascinating read have a look at A Rum Affair where John Raven, the presenter's father, plays real-life Sherlock Holmes with devastating consequences for the British botanical scene. There's a summary at http://naturalscience.com/ns/books/book08.html

Heslop-Harrison seems to be one of those people whom controversy follows around like a faithful dog, even after death in his case. The author of that article is very much a fan.

Is there any other evidence that the Large Blue occurred in that neck of the woods?

[Susie]

Without meadows to look at I, too, found this programme over long.

I am really uncertain at whom it is aimed. It seems to be a gardening programme with a view t converting people to gardening for wildlife but was so simplistic and general it almost seemed like it was aimed at children at times.

[MikeOxon]

I just watched the second episode and, for me, it suddenly began to feel significant when Sarah Raven tackled the RHS competition judges about their judging critera.

In most human activities, people look to win the game by studying to the rules so, if the rules encourage insect pollinators, competitors will try to outdo one another in their compliance - simple human nature!

What will happen, though, when more children get stung by bees in town parks? Alas, there's always a flip side.

Mike

[Michaeljf]

I thought this weeks episode might be subject with 'the law of diminishing returns' as I knew from last week's preview that Sarah Raven was moving into the towns and 'flower-show' territory. Admittedly the episode got off to a 'slow start' but I found it enjoyable again (maybe I'm easily pleased?) especially given that the work done by the Harrogate team really 'took off' with the idea in a positive way by the end of the show. The RHS show with the launch of the bee Icon (that you could photograph and use as an i-link to more information) seemed like a simple but good idea. I don't get tired of seeing flowers in the sunshine (especially when it's miserable outside at the moment) . As Mike said, the changing of the RHS competition criteria has got to be a big plus for future years.

The use of a moth-trap to show the Poplar Hawkmoth, Elephant Hawkmoth and Buff-tip was an unexpected bonus .

But then as stated already, I'm probably easily pleased ....

Michael

[Gibster]

The use of a moth-trap to show the Poplar Hawkmoth, Elephant Hawkmoth and Buff-tip was an unexpected bonus

And so was seeing a Malaise trap in action, plus seeing how to make your own sweepnet and saucer traps!

After last week's "middling" reviews I'm immensely pleased to see that things have come A LONG WAY from that church hall with its terribly indifferent parish council. And well done Sarah for getting plants labelled "Pollinator Perfect". Brilliant!!

My only disappointment was seeing butterflies walking up fingers from inside paper envelopes. WTF?????

Gibster.

[David M]

Not sorry I missed it to be honest given the comments on here.

[Gibster]

No David, it was actually a pretty good show. Looks like things are moving forward, what with the RHS and garden centre labelling. Certainly much more pro-active than last week's episode (which, to be fair, wasn't too bad anyway). See if you can catch it on i-player.

Cheers,

Gibster.

[Susie]

I really didn't think this week's programme was better than last. I'd far rather see wild meadows than formal park flower beds and this programme just seemed like gardeners world's poor relation.

I shall still watch next week's programme though.