[Pollinator] UK's five rarest bumblebees make a comeback

[Matthew Shepherd]

Nice to have a bit of good news about bumble bees from Britain.



Matthew



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FROM: The Guardian (London)

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/oct/05/bumblebee-comeback-uk#_




UK's five rarest bumblebees make a comeback

Conservationists say wildlife-friendly farming schemes in Kent and East
Sussex have restored habitats that support endangered species

*Press Association*

Tuesday 5 October 2010 05.42 EDTLast modified on Monday 19 May 201422.40 EDT

England's five rarest bumblebees have made a comeback in a former
stronghold thanks to wildlife-friendly farming that aims to support an extinct
bee being reintroduced from New Zealand
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/01/wildlife-conservation>,
conservationists said today.

The five threatened species, including the shrill carder bee
<http://www.arkive.org/shrill-carder-bee/bombus-sylvarum/> which is
England's rarest bumblebee, have spread their geographic range in the
south-east as a result of environmental schemes in Dungeness and Romney
Marsh.

Around 50 farms in the area have been working since January 2009 to restore
habitats suitable for the short-haired bumblebee ahead of its
reintroduction from New Zealand where it was taken more than a hundred
years ago – and survived while becoming extinct here.

The project to bring back the species, which was transported to the other
side of the world in the 19th century to pollinate red clover grown to feed
sheep, was delayed after captured bees died in hibernation.

But the work to improve habitats in the area ahead of the short-haired
bumblebee's eventual release has already had a positive effect on
threatened species which are still found in the area, the wildlife experts
said.

The five bumblebee species – the large garden bumblebee, the shrill carder
bee, the shanked carder bee, the moss carder bee and the brown banded
carder bee – have all increased their ranges in Kent and East Sussex this
summer after decades of decline.

The shrill carder bee has been seen in areas where it has not been recorded
for 25 years, according to the groups running the project.

The scheme by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust
<http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/>, bee charity Hymettus
<http://hymettus.org.uk/>, government conservation agency Natural England
<http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/> and the RSPB <http://www.rspb.org.uk/> has
involved local farmers and other landowners in creating habitats for bees
under agri-environment schemes.

The measures include putting in pollen and nectar-rich flower margins to
fields, growing red clover hay meadows and rotating the grazing of animals
on land.

Project leader Dr Nikki Gammans said: "We embarked on this project so that
we could create the right conditions to bring the short-haired bumblebee
back to the UK – but an added benefit is that it has provided a real boost
to these five threatened species.

"We hoped that we would begin to see results like this for these species
but we really didn't expect to see it quite so quickly. It's a great
result, and one we're very excited about."

She said the south of Kent used to have more species of bumblebee than any
other area of the UK until populations declined in the second half of the
20th century.

Today's news was particularly heartening, she said, given declines of bees
in the UK as a whole and the impact that could have on pollination of crops
ranging from tomatoes to peas.

Environment minister Richard Benyon said: "Bumblebees play a vital role in
helping to produce our food by pollinating crops."

"The decline in the number of bees is a concern for the long-term future of
farming, so it is great to hear that the creation of these wildlife
habitats has resulted in increased numbers of so many species of rare
bumblebees.

"These results show the benefit of agri-environment schemes and the role
farmers play in protecting and improving our wildlife."

Conservation <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/conservation> groups
fear agri-environment schemes, which pay farmers to manage their land in
ways that is good for wildlife, could be at risk from the spending cuts
which will be announced later this month.
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