Hey!Three AOTWs in 1 month? You've got to be kidding, right? Because reintroductions of species lost from the UK is a favourite topic of mine, this week's animal is Bombus subterraneus (short-haired bumblebee).
Of the 25 species of bumblebee native to the UK, three have vanished and others are in rapid decline. The decline is thought to be largely due to loss of habitat and increased use of pesticides associated with intensification of agriculture since the end of the second world war. The last short-haired bumblebee was seen in the UK in 1988.
The short-haired bumblebee has, er, short hair, and is a long-tongued late emerging species. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust along with other conservation partners gathered 100 females from Sweden, after a couple of weeks in quarantine, checking their droppings to make sure they had no parasites or diseases, about 50 of these bees have been released at the RSPB reserve at Dungeness in Kent.
Finding 50 Swedish queens that are parasite and disease free is no mean feat, and it's hoped that these bees will now establish colonies at the reserve. The work of the conservationists planting wildflower meadows while preparing the site for the release has also been good news for other bee species: the shrill carder bee has returned after an absence of some years.
Welcome back short-haired bumblebee. May your colonies grow strong in the coming summer.
NB: this story is deficient in puns because the BBC got their first.
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