Plight of the bumblebee

Published on Wednesday 14 May 2008 22:14

URGENT action is needed to save bumblebees in Scotland from rapid rates of decline or some species could be wiped out, environmental experts have warned.

Professor Colin Galbraith, of Scottish Natural Heritage, called on everyone to do their bit to help, as he launched Scottish Biodiversity Week yesterday.

Without bumblebees many foods, such as Scotland's renowned raspberry crops, would not exist, as they would not be pollinated.

But the vital creatures are under threat because of a lack of flowers in the countryside, particularly as a result of intensive farming.

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust has already warned that out of 25 native species of bumblebee across the UK, three have already become nationally extinct and five more are under threat, including the great yellow bumblebee, and large garden bumblebee.

Professor Galbraith said: "The great yellow bumblebee is now found only in the Western Isles and in a few dots in the North- west.

"It has become a Scottish speciality. When its range becomes so restricted then it really is under threat and it may disappear completely."

He added: "The key message is that everybody can help a little bit. Even if it's only putting out a flower pot for bees to nest in."

Shona Turnbull, the biodiversity implementation officer at Scottish Natural Heritage, said: "The most important tip is to plant a range of nectar- and pollen-rich flowers."

She suggested willow, lavender, herbs such as thyme and rosemary, and foxgloves as particularly good options for attracting bumblebees and added that an upturned flower pot could provide them with a perfect nest.

"Scotland is quite famous for its raspberries, but we rely on bumblebees to pollinate them, as well as things like runner beans and broad beans," she said.

"Bumblebees play an important role as a key pollinator of our crops and kitchen gardens."

Scottish Biodiversity Week runs from 19 to 25 May and is a celebration of the country's wildlife.

Mike Russell, the environment minister who helped launch the event, said: "Biodiversity is all living things around us. This means that it affects all of us and all of us can do something to help.

"It is our woodlands and wildlife, our rivers and seas, but it is also our gardens and parks.

"Scottish Biodiversity Week lets us see and enjoy the big, important things but also the small, just as important, aspects like bumblebees and wildflowers."

Honey bees are also under threat. Whole colonies have been dying in hives in Europe and the United States.

Scientists are struggling to explain the deaths.

This week, German officials announced the unexplained deaths of hundreds of thousands of bees in the southern state of Baden-Wrttemburg.

Honey bee colonies in the US have been falling since 1980 and the number of beekeepers has halved.