Team Earth
The bumblebeeumblebees are having a rough time of it. They
love flitting from blossom to bloom, collecting
pollen and nectar. But in the past 80 years
or so the carpet of wildflowers that once
covered the British countryside has declined in staggering
quantities – and so has the number of bees. Two species have
become extinct in Britain and others are at risk.
Why should we worry about this? Because bumblebees
are such heroes of our ecosystems: their pollination of
wildflowers forms the basis of intricate food chains, not to
mention many of the fruit and vegetables we eat each day. If
they disappear, there will be wide-reaching consequences- not least that our strawberries and peas will become more
expensive. Many other mammals, birds and insects will
suffer, too, as their food supplies dwindle.
But do not despair. There are ways of enticing them
back, including a brilliant scheme to reintroduce an extinct
bumblebee to southern England that is also helping out other
species in the process (more on which later). There
are also some easy things you can do to give our
buzzy friends a leg (or six) up.
CRACK
P O L LI N ATO RS
A bumblebee’s value lies in
its pollination powers. For zero
reward from us, they pollinate 80 per
cent of our wildflowers and 84 per cent of
crops. These voluntary workers contribute
an estimated £560m per year to Britain’s
economy. Particularly special are their ‘buzz
pollination’ skills. Crops such as tomatoes,
aubergines and kiwis hold tight onto their
pollen and bumblebees are the only UK
creatures that can get them to part
with it. They vibrate their flight
muscles to break it
loose.DON’T CALL
THEM HONEY
There are about 275 different
kinds of bumblebee. The UK has 24
species, of which eight are common.
They are not honeybees. Only one type of
honeybee lives in Europe, Apis mellifera,
mostly in human-managed hives of up to
60,000 bees. Bumbles don’t make honey,
just a honey-like substance to feed the
few hundred bees in their nest. Unlike
honeybees, which dance to direct
co-workers to good flowers,
bumbles don’t appear
to jive.BUZZING OFF
UK bumblebee numbers have
received an almighty swat in the
past eight decades. Approximately 97
per cent of the wildflower-rich habitats
that once covered landscapes have
vanished since the 1930s, due largely to
modern farming methods and the expansion
of towns. Both the Cullem’s bumblebee
and the short-haired bumblebee have
become extinct, while the great yellow
bumblebee and the shrill carder
bee are now severely
threatened.
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THE BUMBLEBEE