Doing our bit for the Bumblebee

 

If you go to the site for Bumblebee Conservation you can read all about Beewalk where you walk a transect on a regular basis to monitor the numbers and species and spread  of UK Bumblebees. There was an identification training day yesterday to sharpen our knowledge of each type of bee. It was a great day and my husband and I really felt much more knowledgeable by the end of it so I thought I'd make a foray into the garden today to monitor who is coming to feed off of our plants. As you can see they move a bit faster than my eyes can register.......

 They have the advantage over honey bees that they can take nectar from tubular flowers and even though our foxgloves are going over they're still swarming with bees...... not that you'd know it from my photos

 There's a tantalising glimpse here......

 .... and a constant hum and buzz in the air......

 ..... but if you're not quick, they're gone. That's why the training focussed on gently capturing the bee for close study, so I have to wait for some inspection pots to arrive before we can do the job with a bit more efficiency. We have 250 species of bee in the UK, 25 of them being bumblebees. These are split into 19 social species and 6 cuckoo species. Two species have become extinct within the last 8 years and 2 others are giving serious cause for concern. So, without doubt they need our help.

One of the most shocking things I learned yesterday is that tomatoes are exclusively pollinated by bumblebees so large UK growers buy in bumblebee nests from abroad to work their crops. These are not native species and have been bred specifically for commerce. Imagine the carbon footprint of importing bees! What's more, a large percentage of them have disease and what's worse, they've been fed on pollen stripped from honey bees that have been killed for the purpose. How can this be happening in today's world? Each bumblebee nest lasts a year until the Queen hibernates. She is the sole survivor. So, the imported nests are meant to be destroyed by the growers at each season's end but there is evidence that this does not happen. Who knows what these imported bees might do if they get into the gene pool of our native species. It was a salutary piece of knowledge and made me more determined than ever to continue to garden responsibly for all insects, especially bees. If you're interested in more info please follow the links and join up. All help gratefully received!