CAB16: Bumblebird mix
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-10)

What you must do to get paid for this CSHT action and advice on how to do it.

This action is part of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT). You must read the CSHT guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/countryside-stewardship-higher-tier-csht) before you apply.

Duration

5 years

How much you’ll be paid

£747 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s an established multi-annual mix of seed-bearing crops and flower species which:
- is growing in blocks or strips
- produces small seeds for farmland birds from late autumn until late winter
- produces areas of pollen and nectar-rich flowering plants during the growing season
The purpose of this is to:
- provide food resources for farmland birds and nectar feeding insects, such as bumble bees, solitary bees, butterflies and hoverflies
- increase biodiversity
- support an integrated pest management approach if located close to cropped areas
Where you can do this action

You can do this action on eligible land that’s located below the moorland line.

Eligible land

You can do this action on land that’s:
- an eligible land type
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/land-use-codes-rural-payments) which is compatible with the eligible land cover
Available area you can enter into this action

Total or part of the available area in the land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This action can be rotational or static. This means you can either:
- move the action when it’s re-established
- keep it at the same location when it’s re-established
Limited area action

This action has a 25% limit on the amount of land that can be entered into a CSHT agreement. The limit will apply to the area of land with limited area actions in CSHT and SFI agreements added together. For example, if you have 10% of land in an SFI limited area action, you can only have 15% of land in a CSHT limited area action.

Read section 3.4: ‘Actions with a limited area’ in the CSHT applicant’s guide for more information.

What to do

Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.

To get paid for this action, you must:
- maintain or establish, blocks or strips of bumblebird mix in the first year of your agreement
- use a seed mix agreed with your Natural England adviser
- re-establish the mixture, if it fails to establish
- maintain the same quantity of bumblebird mix each year of your action’s duration
- top the established mixture from the second spring after sowing (typically this will be mid-February to mid-March)
- re-establish the seed mix in future years to maintain seed and nectar provision (typically this is every two years)
You must not:
- destroy the established mix until mid to late August in the second summer after sowing
- apply pesticides - you may be able to use herbicides to spot-treat or weed-wipe for the control of injurious weeds, invasive non-native plant species, nettles or other plants if this has been agreed with your Natural England adviser
In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do this action until the agreement end date or this action’s end date, whichever is earlier.

When to do it

You must do this action each year of its duration.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence.

You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including:
- field operations at a land parcel level
- associated invoices
- photographs
Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action

You can do the following actions or options on the same area in a land parcel as this action.

Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they’re done at a different time of year to this action.

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:
- CSHT actions: CWT3, CHRW4
- SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2, WBD10
- SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
- CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
Consents, permissions and licensing requirements

To apply for this action, you’ll need:
- Scheduled Monument Consent (https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/planning/consents/smc/) from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protected-areas-sites-of-special-scientific-interest#get-consent-to-carry-out-operations-on-your-land)
You may need to:
- agree an implementation plan or feasibility study with your Natural England adviser
- get advice from your Natural England adviser if you have other historic or archaeological features on your agreement land
- get a wildlife licence (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wildlife-licences) from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
All historic and archaeological features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).

If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.

Capital grants to support this action

If you need to complete an implementation plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for capital grants plans funding (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/capital-items-guidance-for-applicants-and-agreement-holders#capital-grants-plans).

You can also apply for capital items (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/capital-items-guidance-for-applicants-and-agreement-holders) to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.

Advice to help you do this action

The following optional advice may help you to do this action. Your agreement document will set out all the activities you must do.

Choosing the right location

To maximise benefits for seed-eating birds and wild pollinators, choose sites that:
- are fertile
- have a sunny aspect (south or west facing)
- have a low weed burden
- are close to complementary food and shelter habitats such as cultivated areas for arable plants, hedgerows, scrub, stubble and supplementary winter bird food
- are rectangular-shaped making management easier
- have easy access – avoid remote plots that can make it harder to carry out management at the right time
- are away from buildings to reduce the risk of vermin
Plot size, shape and distribution

You can provide bumblebird mixes as a part or whole-field action.

Larger blocks or strips (between around 0.4 and 5 ha in size) tend to feed more birds for longer into the colder months.

Distributing multiple areas of bumblebird mix across your farm can help farmland birds and other wildlife:
- find food and shelter
- move more easily and safely between complementary habitats (such as hedgerows, ponds and field margins)
Small, isolated areas of bumblebird mix typically provide less benefits for wildlife.

Establishing bumblebird mix

What to sow

Sow seed mixes that:
- last a minimum of 2 years
- contain at least 6 seed-producing crops and 6 flower species
You can also sow enhanced seed mixes that you can retain for up to 5 years.

You’ll need to agree all seed mixes with your Natural England adviser.

Basic 2-year seed mixes

Table 1: Example 2-year autumn sown seed mix

Table 2: Example 2-year spring sown seed mix

Enhanced 5-year mixes

You can sow seed mixes that last for at least 5 years before requiring re-establishment by full or partial re-seed or overseeding. They can last for 5 to 10 years.

The total costs are likely to be similar to establishing 2-year seed mixes. This is because you’ll need to do less re-seeding and you’ll only incur seed-bed cultivation costs once in 5 years.

Table 3: Example 5-year autumn sown seed mix

Table 4: Example 5-year spring sown seed mix

When to sow

You can sow bumblebird mix plots in the autumn and spring.

For spring seed mixes, sow from May to June. For autumn seed mixes, sow from August to early September. This will make sure:
- the conditions are appropriate for seed germination
- the crops have long enough to grow, flower and set ripe seed
- you have time to re-sow any failed crops
How to sow

Sow the seed mix into a seedbed that’s:
- firm
- fine
- level (not cloddy)
- warm
- weed free
- contains some moisture at the time of sowing
This will usually help the seed to germinate.

You can either:
- broadcast seeds onto the surface of the seedbed
- shallow-drill the seeds up to a depth of 1 to 2cm – if your mix contains some very small-seeded crops (such as gold of pleasure, mustard, quinoa and red or white millet) sow no deeper than 1cm
After you have sown the seed mix, you can roll the seedbed (if the soil is dry enough) to:
- improve seed-to-soil contact (to improve germination)
- retain moisture
- reduce the risk of slug damage (particularly within cloddy seedbeds)
After 2 to 4 weeks, check your sown areas:
- have germinated
- For signs of damage from pests such as deer, flea beetle, pigeons or slugs
If seeds have not established, re-sow where necessary using fast-growing crops, such as fodder radish, mustard and buckwheat in early July. This will still produce ripe seeds in time for winter.

Managing your newly sown bumblebird mix

Leave bumblebird mix plots undisturbed during the first spring, summer and autumn after sowing. This will help provide seed-rich foraging habitat for farmland birds in the winter.

Managing your established bumblebird mix

From the second spring or summer after sowing, manage bumblebird mix plots with rotational cutting.

Rotationally cutting part of each plot between March and May (ideally at different times) can:
- encourage earlier flowering
- extend the flowering period into late summer and autumn when pollinators often struggle to find food
- control weeds
- remove the previous year’s vegetation
You can also use rotational shallow cultivations on plots established using an enhanced, longer-term 5-year seed mix. This will help encourage seeds such as teasel to germinate and further enhance the sward.

Grazing is not normally allowed for this action.

Weed management

You do not have to keep bumblebird plots completely weed free during the separate winter bird food (year 1) and pollen and nectar (from year 2) phases. Low levels of weeds such as chickweed, docks and thistles can enhance the foraging value of plots by:
- attracting insects (which in turn provide food for farmland birds)
- providing additional pollen and nectar for different pollinators during spring and summer
You can reduce the risk of weeds becoming established within bumblebird mix plots by:
- choosing sites that have a low weed burden
- using herbicides before preparing the seedbed
Once plots are established, you may need to manage hard to control weeds such as bristly oxtongue, common ragwort, docks, nettles and thistles.

Weed control options include:
- localised topping to prevent the return of weed seeds to the soil and weaken established weeds such as creeping thistle
- hand removal of hard to control weeds such as ragwort before they complete flowering can be a very effective way of preventing weed seeds being returned to the seedbank
- spot application of herbicide using targeted spray equipment such as a hand-lance, knapsack or weed wiper
Keeping bumblebird mix

Retain all bumblebird mix plots until at least mid-August in the second summer after sowing.

You can keep plots established using enhanced, long-term (5-year) seed mixes for longer providing you agree this with your Natural England adviser.

To improve your soil’s health, allow time to incorporate any legume biomass before sowing the next crop in August.

If you’re planning to sow a spring-sown crop after this action, you can leave the bumblebird mix in the ground over winter. This will help provide food and shelter for wildlife such as farmland birds and invertebrates over winter. Leaving areas uncut between April and September can improve the breeding success of wild pollinators, such as bumblebees, butterflies and moths.

Usually, you would re-sow plots established using 2-year mixes every 2 years.

You can re-sow or re-cultivate plots established using enhanced, longer-term (5-year) seed mixes less frequently. Agree this with your Natural England adviser.

Getting extra funding

With approval from Natural England, you can sometimes use the CSP9: Support for threatened species (https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms/csp9-support-for-threatened-species) supplement with this action to cover additional costs. These are costs you may incur when establishing or managing areas of bumblebird mix for priority species.