Plight of the bumblebee

Bees in the UK Around 250 species of bee 24 bumblebees 1 honeybee The rest are solitary bees All bees get nectar from flowers (fuel) and protein-rich pollen (for growth)

Bees in the UK Mining bee, AndrenaRed Mason Bee, Osmia rufa Solitary bee, Colletes daviesanus Honeybee, Apis mellifera Tawny mining bee, Andrena fulva

What are bumblebees? Hymenoptera (Bees, wasps, ants and sawflies); genus Bombus Around 250 species worldwide Annual life cycle Feed exclusively on pollen and nectar Predominantly northern hemisphere

What are bumblebees? Picture from Volynchik et al Microscopy Research and Technique 69: Warm-blooded – high energy requirements = they need a lot of flowers!

Bumblebees and honeybees 6 Bumblebees Wild 18 social species and 6 cuckoo species workers No dancing! Only the queen survives winter Struggling due to flower shortages - habitat loss Honeybees Domesticated Only 1 species 50,000 workers Waggledance Colony survives winter Hives badly affected by diseases

7 The bumblebee life cycle

What bumblebees need Somewhere to nest Somewhere to hibernate Lots of flowers for food

What has happened to bumblebees? 1980 Atlas of bumblebees found widespread declines Over a third of the social bumblebee species have declined by more than 70%

Great yellow bumblebee Maps from NBN

Shrill carder bee

Short-haired bumblebee Maps from NBN

Common species? Many of the common species were found everywhere They do the bulk of the pollination, so is everything ok? Until recently, only distribution was recorded – so we know where the bees are But we dont know very much about abundance Common species may not be so abundant, but we wouldnt know! Our Bee Walk monitoring scheme will help to find this data, but its early days

Should we be worried? Huge commercial importance as pollinators Insect pollination in the UK worth £440 million (1996) 14.2 billion in EU Many wild plants depend on them for pollination Bumblebees help to support networks of semi-natural flower-rich grassland No bumblebees = sweeping changes to the countryside Intrinsic value bumblebee at commercial raspberry flower

Schematic representation range of plants visited by honey bees and bumblebees (showing area of overlap)

Why are bumblebees declining? Great loss of bumblebee habitat 98% of flower-rich grassland has been lost in UK since 1940s Agricultural changes to more intensive methods Cutting grass many times a year and heavy grazing Removal of hedgerows and areas without crops

Habitats Habitats! and Habitats What can we do to help bumblebees?

The best sites for bumblebees in the UK look like this…

…and this...

BBCTs work with farmers Stimulate interest Promote sympathetic management Provide advice Help to get the best out of agri- environment schemes Demonstrate best practice Focus in priority areas, for now

Land management RSPB Vane Farm at Loch Leven Re-seeded with local wildflower seeds Now used for food by the rare blaeberry bumblebee from nearby hills – success!

Relatively small flower-rich patches can support workers from many nests, visiting from up to a kilometre away A mosaic of bee refuges spread around the countryside would maintain populations

Gardening for bumblebees Some bumblebee species are now more common in gardens and parks than in the countryside Gardens cover more than 1 million hectares in the UK Its important to have the right plants that provide pollen and nectar from March - September Spring Early summerLate summer

Gardening for bumblebees Many common bedding plants are no good for bumblebees or other wildlife Produce little or no nectar or pollen Have been bred by horticulturalists to have flowers that look nice, but are too hard for bees to use X

Gardening for bumblebees Nest establishment in spring: Daffodil Willow Lungwort Flowering currant Heather Bluebell

Gardening for bumblebees Colony growth continues in spring and summer: Buddleia Foxglove Lavender Thyme pea-family plants Aquilegia Allium

Gardening for bumblebees Mid- to late-summer fledging of new queens and males – this requires a lot of food Lavender Honeysuckle Clovers Scabious Cornflower Campanula A nest that has not reared new queens or males has failed

Bee Kind 29

Making space for bumblebees Go wild! Wildflower meadows are great habitat for bees, and can be created in most gardens or amenity grassland. Perfect for community areas Will flower year after year if managed properly More information on these in factsheets and booklet Making Space for Bumblebees

BeeWalk National scheme to collect abundance data Helps us detect population declines All data contributes to long-term monitoring of populations in response to climate and land-use change Volunteers walk a 1-2km route once a month between March and October They record: all bumblebee species seen The number of each species seen

How can you help? –Help increase habitat availability on farmed land through sympathetic management –Surveying –the more records we have, the better an understanding we have of bumblebees and which need our help most –volunteers could really help to increase records and collect abundance data for the first time through the BeeWalk scheme –Provide bumblebee habitat in your garden

Join us! –Wed love to welcome you as a new member of BBCT –Membership types to suit all, starting from as little as £16 per year –You will receive our Buzzword newsletter three times per year –New members receive our welcome pack tailored to those interested in gardening or bumblebee identification: –A choice of either: –Whats that bumblebee? ID guide and ID poster, or –Gardening for bumblebees and Gardening poster AND –Bumblebee pin badge –A packet of wildflower seeds –Window sticker

Join us!

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