CAITHNESS FARMERS and conservation volunteers joined forces this summer to help the endangered Great Yellow Bumblebee.

Farmers have sown special strips of flowers for the rare bees to feed on and the volunteers have been monitoring numbers of the furry insects. The Great Yellow is the UK’s rarest bumblebee and the Caithness population is vital to ensuring the species’ long-term survival. The project aims to boost numbers of this charismatic insect on eleven participating farms by sowing several hectares of a ‘Super ‘7 seed mix, packed full of clovers and other flowers