As I walked along the Icknield Way yesterday I came upon these trees in full flower. Apart from occasional patches of Celandine and Dog Violet nothing else is blooming as yet so I stopped to gaze on the mass of blossom illuminated by spring sunshine.

 Cherry trees flower early and I would think these are Wild Cherry (Prunus avium). This species does indeed grow wild in the UK but was often planted in the hedgerows of old used to divide one field from another. Other natives used for the purpose were the likes of Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Field Maple, Hornbeam and Hazel.

 This particular stretch of countryside is an undulating landscape of very large arable fields. The ancient patchwork of small fields has long been amalgamated into prairies of industrial agriculture. In such areas the trees that remain are often the remnants of hedgerows which are no longer managed and maintained.

 As I stood there I became aware of something wonderful. It was a breezy day but I began to notice a loud and continuous humming noise. The blossom was buzzing with bumblebees! 

 I don't know if I've ever seen so many bumblebees in a single location. There were bumblebees crawling around every branch, coming and going constantly. These will be queen bees emerging from hibernation. It is said that bumblebees will forage up to a kilometre from the nest and the cherry blossom must have been attracting every bumblebee in the vicinity. 

 As I say little else was in flower anywhere nearby so these few surviving cherries must be sustaining the entire bumblebee population within a wide radius at this point in the year. It goes to show how important it is to have even small pockets of planting for pollinators.

Postscript A couple of other species were widely used in hedgerows. Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) and Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus) might also be candidates for the ones I refer to here.