Grab your camera and help us map dwindling bumblebee population, experts plead

Published on 27/06/2012 01:07

SCIENTISTS and conservationists are calling for the public to help map the UK’s dwindling bumblebee population for the first time – with the aid of their digital cameras.

The Stirling-based Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT) yesterday launched an appeal to chart the spread of the 24 different bumblebee species throughout the country. And the appeal is being backed by scientists at Aberdeen University who have devised a new web tool to enable members of the public to record their findings on the new bumblebee map.

According to the campaign group, Adopt a Hive, Britain’s bee population has declined by a third since 2007, with a 75 per cent reduction in hives in the past century. Dr René van der Wal, from Aberdeen University’s School of Biological Sciences, explained: “Bumblebees have a unique ecology.”