February in the rhythm of wild bees

February was a busy month for the program teams LIFE Wild bees, in support of wild bees. A look back at 28 days punctuated by planting projects and public events.

"Special Bee Week"

From February 17 to 21, the Nouvelle Aquitaine Regional Biodiversity Agency (ARBNA), a partner of the Park through the Life Wild Bees program, organized a week offree entertainmentdedicated to the discovery of wild bees. Conferences, film screenings and activities for young audiences were on the program of this "special bee" week, in connection with the different municipalities of the Park involved in the creation of "buzzing" gardens.

Thus the children from the leisure center of Maisonnais-sur-Tardoire were able to participate in fun activities before lending a hand to volunteers to maintain the plantings done a year ago in the "buzzing" garden. The Community of Municipalities of Pays de Nexon-Monts de Châlus also hosted a children's event at the Nexon media library, in connection with the "buzzing" garden project in Lastours. CussacThe residents were able to discover three short films Filmed by Fabien Mazzocco as part of the Life Wild Bees project, these short films explored the diversity of wild bees, their different nesting methods, and their close ties to flowers. The session included commentary by Audric Le Meitour (ARBNA) and was followed by a screening of Vincent Munier's film "Le Temps des forêts" (The Time of Forests), in partnership with Ciné Plus en Limousin. These same short films, accompanied by a presentation from ARBNA, were also shown at Dournazac, at the Thiviers cinema in partnership with the municipality of Chalais and Bussiere-Badil prior to a planting project on the site of the "buzzing" garden.

All of these events were part of the Biodiversity Meetings, and the Park Meeting.

The planting season has begun.

February was also marked by the launch of planting operations in the various "buzzing" gardens currently under development. On February 7th, the first volunteer planting project The event took place in Bussière-Badil. A small group of about ten people were present to plant various small hedgerow plants (hawthorn, blackthorn, elderberry, spindle, dogwood, etc.) in different locations on the site. The young plants, labeled "local plant," were protected from browsing by wild animals with biodegradable covers (cardboard or starch-based plastic for the larger ones). Squares of jute fiber were also installed around some of the plants to reduce competition from brambles, among other things.

Following this, on February 9th, volunteers from the municipality of Dournazac and the association "Nos Villages et Nos Chemins" began planting country hedgessmall fruit trees, as well as some wild cherry and linden trees, are being planted along their "buzzing" trail project. Shrub planting continued on February 21st in Bussière-Badil as part of the biodiversity events (see above). Further work dates will be scheduled from late March/early April for planting perennials and sowing seeds. In parallel, volunteer workdays are taking place.maintenance take place in the "buzzing" gardens which benefited from plantings in 2024-2025.

All the volunteers are working hard to complete the landscaping of the various gardens by this autumn! In addition, numerous free events will be held in these gardens throughout the year to raise awareness about the importance of wild bees. The full program of events at the Park can be found here. online.