Vote to help the Shrill Carder Bee in Wales!

A great opportunity to help the rare Shrill Carder Bee in a special part of Wales, by voting for a project proposed by BBCT Conservation Officer Pippa Rayner.  You can vote online under ‘most worthy eco project’ at www.livefortheoutdoors.com!  But hurry, voting closes in a week or so.

 

First bumblebee of the year reported!

The cold snap over and suddenly, a report of a bumblebee flying along near Edinburgh Zoo at 14:30 on Sunday 17th January, from David Adamson.  The expectation is that this was a queen buff-tailed bumblebee.  I have seen this species in early February near Stirling, but this is a remarkable record.  Could the cold spell have influenced this queen's emergence in some way? David's sighting encouraged me to look at the winter heathers on the university campus in the sunshine at lunchtime.  There were some flowers, but not too surprisingly, no bees.

 

Guardian seminar

I was sent a cutting from The Guardian at the end of last year, about a Guardian seminar with Natural England regarding 'ecosystem services'.  This coincided with the launch of a new report, "No Charge? Valuing the Natural Environment". One of the participants stated that "bees are a vital part of the supply chain, yet the story is always told like it's a shame they are vanishing but only really relevant if you work in an orchard…how much would it cost to make an artificial bee? Where is the sense of panic that this vital part of the supply chain is going missing?". I am guessing that the participant was using 'bees' to refer to honeybees only, which are important and have been in trouble, but our wild bees also carry out a lot of pollination, a word strangely absent from the Natural England report. The statement seems borne of frustration, but I can't help feel concerned. An implication is that if wildlife doesn't provide an 'ecosystem service', or at least one that that we can assign a financial value to, then does this mean it's not worth protecting?  At the conference, it was acknowledged that this simplistic 'balance-sheet' approach was controversial but something may have to change, perhaps, as one participant suggested, to ensure that the environment is treated as infrastructure and invested in accordingly.

I am happy to report, however, that the story is not "always told like it's a shame they are vanishing…".   True, many bumblebee species have declined, but there is so much more interest and awareness now.  The work we are doing with Great Yellow Bumblebee, together with other organisations, local groups and communities, shows that there is scope for good news, and though there is a lot still to be done, the signs are promising.  Perhaps some 'Great Yellow Bumblebee' merchandising or wildlife tours could allow someone to attach a financial value to it, and at least one crofter on South Uist is in possession of Great Yellow Bumblebee-pollinated broad beans!  However, the Great Yellow Bumblebee is one of a number of rare species that we have an international obligation to protect.  This means supporting the habitats and landscapes that support these bees, the 'ecosystem approach', and much more wildlife besides - there are solutions out there!

 

2010 - International Year of Biodiversity

Happy New Year!  December finished with a flurry of activity, and I spent a fascinating day with Dr. Paul Williams of the Natural History Museum (and BBCT Trustee).  In the grounds of the museum, Buff-tailed Bumblebee workers were busy at the flowering Mahonia, while the nearby outdoor ice rink bustled, evoking fond memories of learning to skate on a frozen canal in Ottawa, and sampling 'beaver tails'!  I saw other Buff-tailed Bumblebees using winter heathers (collecting pollen) and winter jasmine elsewhere in London.  I wonder if any of these nests survived the hard weather?

 

Paul showed me specimens of a wide range of species, including the now official 'lectotype' of Great Yellow Bumblebee, originally described by Morawitz in 1869.  Although the pattern of Great Yellow Bumblebee is distinctive among UK bumblebees, there are perhaps 20 or 30 species worldwide that look very similar - these all seem to be associated with grasslands.  The helpful black band between the wings seems to be the commonest single feature among all bumblebees - but we don't know why!  Among European bumblebees, Great Yellow Bumblebee is most similar genetically to Short-haired Bumblebee.  However, the evidence suggests that it is actually more similar to two North American species, Bombus borealis and Bombus appositus. Great Yellow has a current range that is more extensive than Short-haired, found across Eurasia, even as far as the Aleutian Islands.  It is also a more northern species and it, or an ancestor, may have benefited from the land bridge that formerly existed between Asia and North America.

 

 

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/bombus/st.html

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/beringia2.html