Educational Butterfly Kits - These Butterfly Breeding Kits come with everything you need to breed your own Painted Lady butterflies - watch them develop from caterpillar to butterflies and because they are native to the UK, once developed, you can keep them for a few days before releasing them. All these butterfly kits are designed to be reusable, and you can re-order caterpillars (between March and early September) and repeat the whole process. N.B. Caterpillars are available NOW!  

Butterfly Breeding Kits - Our kits feature caterpillars of the Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui, L), which are a native, migrating butterfly, that can fly thousands of miles in search of food. They lay up to 500 eggs and their caterpillars feed on weeds such as nettles. Once you have released your butterflies, they can often be seen for several days- especially if you have a butterfly friendly garden and feeder. These Butterfly Breeding kits come with everything you need to breed your own Painted Lady butterflies :-

Butterfly Garden - This colourful and reusable Butterfly Garden allows you to study 5 butterflies from caterpillar to butterfly. The Butterfly Garden includes a 30cm hanging / free-standing mesh garden, a voucher for 5 Painted Lady caterpillars and food (inc. freepost envelope), pipette for feeding and full instructions.

New - Classroom Butterfly Kit - We have put together this new Classroom kit which allows each student to have their own caterpillar. This kit is designed especially for classrooms and comes with 3 of the 30cm hanging / free-standing mesh gardens (so the class can split up into smaller groups) and a VOUCHER for 33 Painted Lady caterpillars and food, 33 vials, lids and food (so each student can have their own caterpillar in their own individual pot with food) and full instructions.

Want lots of Butterfly Breeding Kits - Lots of classes like to split into groups and have a kit each, so now you can buy Special Offer packs of Butterfly Gardens (see price box below) and save money! i.e. Buy 5 x Butterfly Gardens for £89.95 saving £10.00

What happens once you receive your kit? - Once you have your kit and are ready to start , return the voucher or register online and the caterpillars will be sent to you by 1st class post. Remember it will take 3-5 weeks for caterpillars to change into butterflies.

Caring for your caterpillars - Once your caterpillars arrive, simply watch them eat, spin silk and grow to many times their original size. The caterpillars don't need anything other than the food supplied in the cup and the small holes in the lid of the cup will provide plenty of air. They can stay as caterpillars for up to 2 weeks, but normally 7 days depending on temperature - 24c/76f is ideal. When the caterpillars are ready to become chrysalides, they will climb to the top of the cup and hang upside down attaching themselves to the paper disc inside the lid. After 24 / 48 hours the chrysalis and will have a beautiful sheen of bronze and gold. When your chrysalides have formed move them into either your Butterfly Garden or Pavilion. 

The birth of the butterfly - After 7 -14 days the chrysalides will darken and you will be able to see the colours of the butterflies through the shell. As the butterfly emerges, it will rest while pumping its wings to full size. After 1 or 2 hours the wings will be full sized and hard and the butterfly is ready to fly. Now you can decorate the inside of your Pavilion or Garden with flowers, twigs & leaves. You can keep your butterflies  for 2 - 3 days feeding them sugar solution (sugar and water) or fruit before releasing them in your garden :-

Beepol Bumble Bee Box and the newly designed Lodge – Bumblebees are one of the most important pollinators in the garden, pollinating fruit, vegetables, flowers and herbs, but their numbers are decreasing. This recent decline in bumblebee numbers has been widely reported, so why not position a LIVE colony of bumblebees in your garden to boost their numbers and ensure pollination of YOUR plants.

Native British Bumble Bees - Bumblebees are widely used in commercial horticulture to pollinate crops and NOW you too can release native buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris audax) in YOUR garden. Bumblebees are responsible for pollinating lots of plants in your garden including runner beans, broad beans, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, sunflowers, cherries, pears, plums, apples, peaches, courgettes, marrows, pumpkins, gourds, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries. It is better to release bumblebees to increase pollination because bumblebees visit more flowers, carry heavier loads and are active at lower temperatures than honeybees. Bumblebees also use “buzz pollination”, which helps pollinate a wider variety of plants.

Beepol Bumble Bee Box – Native live bumble bees delivered straight to your door. Available between April and August, this maintenance free hive contains a queen and approx 30 workers ready for release in YOUR garden. The Beepol Bumble Bee Box is NOT weatherproof and needs to be placed under cover i.e. in a greenhouse OR place it inside the Beepol Bumble Bee Lodge (see below). Pre-order for delivery w/c 01/04.

Beepol Bumble Bee Box – Once in position, the Bumble Bee Box can survive for between 8-12 weeks during which time the population increases to 200 / 300 bees. They can be observed going about their work, as they bring pollen back to the hive. The Beepol Bumble Bee Box has been designed to educate as well as pollinate and features a clear viewing panel, so you can observe the colony as it develops. Bumblebees are released through an easy to use trap door system, which is very safe to use PLUS it can also be used to hold bees in the hive if it needs to be moved to a new position i.e. if you want to move it from a greenhouse out into the garden. After 8-12 weeks the queen bee dies, but before she does, she produces young queens that will leave the hive to hibernate before establishing fresh new colonies in the following spring. The whole process can then be repeated with a fresh hive ANYTIME between April and August. Pre-order for delivery w/c 01/04.

Beepol Bumble Bee Lodge - The Beepol Lodge is the ultimate wildlife feature for your garden, providing a fascinating and permanent place of residence for your very own bumblebee colony. Bumblebee colonies do not survive the winter, so place a fresh Beepol Bumble Bee Hive in the lodge each spring, ensuring every summer you can enjoy the sight and sounds of British bumblebees hard at work in your garden. The Beepol Bumble Bee Lodge has a hinged roof for access and for viewing the Bumblebee colony. It stands on wooden legs to keep the hive off the ground. The entrance hole is the correct size and shape for bumblebees and we have even provided a landing ledge for them to rest on when they return to the hive with heavy loads of pollen! New - The entrance hole is now protected by an anti-wax moth door, which allows the bees easy access but keep wax moths out.

Ideal Gift - Order the Beepol Bumble Bee Lodge with a VOUCHER for the bumblebees, so it can be given as a gift at anytime and then the recepient can request the bees from April onwards.

Tree Lodge Bracket - This wooden bracket is available seperately as an optional extra and is used to attach the Beepol Bumble Bee Lodge to a wall, fence, or to a tree. Attach the bracket to the wall and the Beepol Bumble Bee Lodge simply sits on the bracket. This the lodge to be raised up off the ground and is ideal if you want to keep it away from children or pets or if the hive is going to be on public displays i.e. in schools.

Anti Wax-Moth Door - Bumblebee nests and hives can sometimes be invaded by wax moths. Wax moths lay their eggs within the bee nests and the larvae hatch and feed on the contents - a wax moth infestation is often fatal to the bumblebee nest. Signs of a wax moth infestation are initially long strands of silken webbing and then the appearance of grey/brown maggots amongst the bees brood cells. An Anti Wax-Moth Door is now available to protect exisiting BEEPOL Lodges from Wax Moths. The Anti Wax-Moth Door comprises of a trap door that attaches to the front of the BEEPOL Lodge. The bumblebees soon learn how to push open the door to leave and return to the nest, however the Wax moths are neither strong enough or clever enough to do this! N.B. All Beepol lodges from now on WILL come with an anti wax-moth door ALREADY fitted.

Butterfly Accessories. A range of accessories such as buttefly food & attractant, field guides and lifecycle models that can be used in the classroom along side the kits.

Butterfly and Bee Seeds - This mixture of seeds have been selected for their fragrance and colour and have been proven to attract butterflies and bees. It includes seeds from Shirley Poppy, Californian Poppy, Cornflower, Fairy Toadflax, Tickseed, Red Orache and Larkspur. They will give a long flowering period and are easy to sow and germinate. Sow anytime between Feb - June. Each 8g pack will sow 3-4 sqm.

Butterfly Food and attractant - A unique blend of foods and vitamins suitable for feeding butterflies and moths. Also contains an attractant based on a natural plant extract it can be used to attract butterflies to the butterfly house. Use from spring onwards - simply mix 1 rounded teaspoon with water until fully dissolved and pour the mixture onto the sponge on the butterfly house and feeder.

Butterfly Field Guide - This attractive laminated field guide will help you identify the many kinds of butterfly you find in your garden. 

Ladybird Accessories. A range of accessories such as food & attractants, field guides and lifecycle models that can be used in the classroom along side the ladybird kit.
 

Ladybird attractant and food - Mix the powder with a drop of water and use in the garden or in one of our special ladybird houses. This encourages ladybirds to your garden giving you free pest control. Use from early spring onwards.

Ladybird Field Guide - Did you know there are  13 species of ladybirds? This attractive laminated field guide will help you identify the ladybirds you in your garden.

Ladybird Lifecycle Models - These meticulously designed ladybird lifecycle figures are an educational accessory to go with our ladybird kit. These accurate replicas are oversized making them ideal for little hands. There are 4 stages accurately detailed - eggs, larva, pupa and adult ladybird.