Extinct bumblebee reintroduced to England

[Rosemary]

GUILFORD, U.K.: Short-haired bumblebees, which were last seen in England two decades ago, are set to make a comeback if a project to reintroduce them from New Zealand is successful.

A team led by Nikki Gammans from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, in Scotland, aims to collect up to 100 short-haired bumblebee queens from New Zealand for re-introduction to England. After rearing and breeding, the bees will be transported and released in June 2010.

Short-haired bumblebees were once widespread across the south of England but declined due to a loss of habitat. England's wild flower meadows in particular have reduced by 98% over the last 70-odd years largely due to the transition to intensive modern farming methods.
The species was imported to New Zealand from Britain in 1885, now it is making the return journey.

Extinct bumblebee reintroduced to England | COSMOS magazine

 

[Sparrow]

Seems to be a worldwide shortage of bumblebees these days.

A science piece on CNN last month showed the lengths one community in China (I think it was China) would go in order to make up for the complete loss of the local bumblebee population. They were spreading the pollen by hand, with something akin to a miniature feather duster. Pretty sad when one of nature's most industrious creatures, and ardent helper to our farmers, is on the edge.

When I was a kid you would never go long without seeing a bumblebee, if only to get stung. It's very rare that while I'm digging away in the yard that I have to shoo away a bee. Plenty of hornets and wasps, but very few bumblebees.


One theory on declining bee populations in North America...

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1491866/researchers_develop_theory_on_declining_bee_population/

 

[Drachir]

GUILFORD, U.K.: Short-haired bumblebees, which were last seen in England two decades ago, are set to make a comeback if a project to reintroduce them from New Zealand is successful.

A team led by Nikki Gammans from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, in Scotland, aims to collect up to 100 short-haired bumblebee queens from New Zealand for re-introduction to England. After rearing and breeding, the bees will be transported and released in June 2010.

Short-haired bumblebees were once widespread across the south of England but declined due to a loss of habitat. England's wild flower meadows in particular have reduced by 98% over the last 70-odd years largely due to the transition to intensive modern farming methods.
The species was imported to New Zealand from Britain in 1885, now it is making the return journey.

Extinct bumblebee reintroduced to England | COSMOS magazine

I saw the same Discovery Channel show as Sparrow. The loss of bees is creating quite a buzz around the world. Let's hope a solution to declining bees can be found, especially as the province where I live is the largest producer of honey in Canada.

 

[Pyan]

Um - has there been a widespread return of wild flower meadows in the UK, then? With the abolition of set-aside, and the emphasis turning to more intensive cereal-farming to off-set a probable shortage in the next ten years, it seems to me that re-introducing these bees ,without changing the reason for their extinction in the UK, is, at best, somewhat futile...