BES Facebook groupShort-Haired Bumblebee Coming Back to Britain
The short-haired bumblebee, declared extinct in the UK in 2000, is to be re-introduced to this country from New Zealand, under a new project facilitated by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.
The short-haired bumblebee was transported to New Zealand in the nineteenth century to aid the pollination of crops. Now, in an effort to compensate for recent pollinator declines in the UK, and to tackle habitat loss, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Natural England and Hymettus have launched a scheme to bring the bee back.
Dr Nikki Gammans, Project Officer at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, will bring 50 – 100 short-haired bumblebees back to the UK from New Zealand at the end of this year. The Trust will then instigate a captive breeding programme, with the aim of facilitating successive releases of the bee around Britain from 2010. The first release will be at Dungeness in Kent, the last recorded location of the native short-haired bee before its extinction in this country.
The initial release will be accompanied by efforts to improve the habitat for bees at the Dungeness RSPB reserve and work with farmers to increase bee-friendly areas on their land. 98% of the wildflower meadows have been lost across the UK in the last 60 years. The BCT and Natural England hope this project will contribute to the restoration of areas of habitat suitable for bumblebees across the country.
Original story from the Guardian
The British Ecological Society has organised an event at the British Science Festival this year, working with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Royal Horticultural Society to explore how you can make your garden more hospitable to pollinators. Dr Nikki Gammans will join us to talk about the reintroduction programme. ‘Gardening for wildlife: can suburbia become Britain’s largest nature reserve?‘ will take place on Monday 7 September at the University of Surrey, Guildford. <a href=”http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/policy/science_festival_2009.php”>Find out more.
June 16th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
im doing a school project on the short haired bumble bees and can anyone tell me where their habbitat is and what they eat ? ? ?
June 17th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Hi Sophie,
Here are a few links that might be helpful with your project:
http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=155
or
http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/
Good Luck!
March 29th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
What an interesting and important ecological project. What is the time scale for the release? How long has the planning process been for this activity? Is there available a breakdown of the tasks involved in such an undertaking?
Thanks
March 31st, 2010 at 12:24 pm
In summer 2009, researchers worked very closely with farmers and land owners to recreate the ideal habitat for B. subterraneus. During 2009 the project team have been working with our Czech and New Zealand colleagues to finalise their breeding methodology for B. subterraneus. Project officer Nikki Gammans then flew over to New Zealand at the end of the year to collect short haired bumblebee queens for the start of captive rearing/breeding. The team hoped to fly the new queen generation back to the UK for release early in 2010. Meanwhile continuing work will be conducted on recreating flower rich habitat for these bees. Lots of public engagement has taken place to date; from bumblebee identification courses, to bee walks and talks.