The Plight of the Bumblebee
Why Britain's losing it's buzz...
Catherine Zentile
The unmistakeable buzz of a bumblebee is one of the quintessential sounds of British summertime. The buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) visiting a globe thistle. © Penny FirthBut this ‘slender sound’ and ‘faint utterance’ that was so admired by Wordsworth is under threat, because bumblebees are in crisis. Of the 25 species native to Britain, three have already been declared extinct (the latest casualty being Bombus subterraneus in 1988), five are designated UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP) priority species, and many more have undergone major range contractions. The great yellow bumblebee, Bombus distinguendus, for example, is now restricted to northern Scotland, Orkney and the Hebrides, and the shrill carder bee, Bombus sylvarum, which was once common throughout southern Britain, now exists only in seven small groups. And as these populations become more isolated they can become inbred, which increases the risk of further extinctions.