Ian Lambert
Final Approach
A Bumblebee heads towards a pollen rich Yellow Poppy.
Bumblebees are among the most endearing and familiar of our insects. The sight and sound of bees droning methodically from flower to flower is a quintessential part of a summer’s day. Sadly, changes to the farmed countryside have not been kind to bumblebees. The number of species found in most of lowland Britain has halved since 1950. Within the last 70 years two bumblebee species have become nationally extinct and others have experienced major declines and further extinctions may follow in the near future. The reason that bumblebees have declined in the countryside is simple. Bees feed exclusively on pollen and nectar, and there are far fewer flowers in the countryside than there once were. Hedges have been grubbed up and marshes drained. In particular, unimproved grasslands which are rich in wildflowers have been almost entirely swept away, replaced by silage and cereal fields.
Gardens now provide a valuable flower-rich refuge and as a result have become a stronghold for some bumblebee species. Depending on location, and what flowers are grown, there maybe up to a dozen bumblebee species in a garden.
Final Approach
A Bumblebee heads towards a pollen rich Yellow Poppy.
Bumblebees are among the most endearing and familiar of our insects. The sight and sound of bees droning methodically from flower to flower is a quintessential part of a summer’s day. Sadly, changes to the farmed countryside have not been kind to bumblebees. The number of species found in most of lowland Britain has halved since 1950. Within the last 70 years two bumblebee species have become nationally extinct and others have experienced major declines and further extinctions may follow in the near future. The reason that bumblebees have declined in the countryside is simple. Bees feed exclusively on pollen and nectar, and there are far fewer flowers in the countryside than there once were. Hedges have been grubbed up and marshes drained. In particular, unimproved grasslands which are rich in wildflowers have been almost entirely swept away, replaced by silage and cereal fields.
Gardens now provide a valuable flower-rich refuge and as a result have become a stronghold for some bumblebee species. Depending on location, and what flowers are grown, there maybe up to a dozen bumblebee species in a garden.