In one of our ongoing projects we study the possibility to use late cut red clover as feed for house crickets. If the clover crop is harvested at late botanical stage it is likely that it benefits pollinators. Below you can read a short report from Post Doc Laura Riggi about this project:
There are indication of positive effects of late season red clover mass-flowering crops on bumblebee reproduction. Clover is also known to be a good pollen resource for less widespread bumblebees. Despite the increasing interest in the effects of mass-flowering crop resources on pollinators, it remains unclear how late season flowering crop affect the abundance and community composition of bumblebees in non-crop habitats during and after mass-flowering crop bloom. In the summer of 2019 we carried out a large field scale study across Skåne to test whether landscapes with clover crops harbor higher abundances and more diverse bumblebee communities in non-crop habitats compared to landscapes without clover resources. We expected clover landscapes to benefit rarer bumblebee species, specifically, we expect more long-tongued bumblebees in clover landscapes. Preliminary results indicate positive effects of clover on bumblebee richness and diversity.