Save Our Bees.Before It'S Too Late

Save Our Bees.Before It'S Too Late.
The continuing decline in bees will destroy the British countryside as important iconic plants die without pollination, experts have warned.

English honey to run out before Christmas
Government figures show decline of UK bees
Bee decline threatens our dinner and the countryside
Bumblebees, the wild cousin of the honey bee, are responsible for pollinating a range of British fruits and vegetables including raspberries, potatoes and tomatoes
They are also key to a number of rare flowers including fox gloves, honey suckle and a range of wild orchids that cannot be pollinated by other insects.

However bumblebees are in sharp decline. Of the 25 species found in the UK, three are nationally extinct and many more are seriously threatened.

Professor David Goulson, co-founder of The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, said many of the plants and flowers that are so distinctive to the British countryside rely on the bumble bee for pollination including lupins, heather and poppies.

"There are lots of plant species out there which will never produce offspring without the bumble bees to fertilise them," he said. "If the plant disappears it will then cause the disappearance of lots of other species [higher up the food chain] leading to ecological disaster."

There has been growing concern about the decline of bees around the world because loss of habitat, climate change and disease. In some areas of the UK honey bee numbers have dropped by as much as 80 per cent, while bumblebees across the country have declined by 60 per cent since 1970. This has led to concern for agriculture as bees are responsible for pollinating most food crops.

Prof Goulson, head of Biological Sciences at the University of Stirling, said the bumblebee had a particular role in maintaining the British countryside, not just for agriculture but for wild roadside flowers and meadows.

Different bumblebees have longer tongues meaning they are attracted to certain flowers that no other insect would be able to pollinate.

The small furry insects also have a unique method of pollination called "buzz pollination" where they shake the pollen off the flower by vibrating their wings. Again, certain plants rely on the bumble bee to use this method of pollination in order to cross fertilise.

Speaking at a regional meeting of the Royal Entomological Society at the environmental research centre The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute in Aberdeen, Prof Goulson called on farmers and gardeners to act.

He said: "Conservation requires action at the landscape scale, to provide adequate floral resources and connectivity between populations. Agri-environment schemes could go a long way to providing the necessary habitat for bumblebees.

"It's important that farmers use wildlife-friendly farming methods and support the replanting of hedgerows and the recreation of hay meadow and chalk grassland habitats to benefit themselves as much as the bees. Householders can play their part too by using wildflowers and traditional cottage-garden plants in their gardens."

Wild flowers that rely on bumblebees: Red campions; foxgloves; lupins; honeysuckle; woundwort; lousewort; many orchids; viper's bugloss; red clover; tufted vetch; bird's foot trefoil; kidney vetch; knapweed; scabious; heather; blueberry; blackberry; bilberry; laburnum; horse chestnut, poppies, cornflower.

Garden plants that rely on bumblebees: lavender, sage, aquilegia, chives, rosemary, hollyhocks; marjoram, delphinium, sunflower, catmint, snapdragon, comfrey.

http://www.gardensablaze.com/BackyardHabitat/BackyardBees.htm

http://www.wildlifegardener.co.uk/CreatingAWildlifeHabitatInYourGarden.html

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Education

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• Bees.Before
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[Nomoreidsleft]

Wild bees are not going extinct. It's the "cattle" bees that beekeepers own that are bring hit by disease, and inbreeding that are going extinct.

[chuckadave]

@Nomoreidsleft OK. Explain why Of the 25 species of Bumble Bee found in the UK, three are nationally extinct and many more are seriously threatened.

[Nomoreidsleft]

@chuckadave The cattle bees are roaming the countryside spreading disease, but the wild bees will survive because they are genetically diversified. The cattle be kept by apiaries do not have a diversified gene pool and the commercial bee hives lock the cattle bee into an unhealthy way of life.

[chuckadave]

@Nomoreidsleft I understand that..But my question is still unanswered

[Nomoreidsleft]

@chuckadave Like I said, the apiaries are bringing their diseased bees all over the countryside, and infecting the wild bees. If they stopped that practice, the wild population would most likely rebound, and thrive without the competition and diseases from the apiary hives.

[chuckadave]

@Nomoreidsleft Doesn't loss of natuaral habitat also contribute to The declining Bumble Bee population .

I misread Your previous comment,which is strongly a  valid point.

[yalecheerleder]

this situation needed (extreme) attention 20 years ago

never too late

[UberMetallMaschine]

oh no! not the bees! NOT THE BEES! AARRRGGGHHH!!!!!

[adelle0001]

I love bees! hehehe

[jj77875]

Wasps are a big threat to bees. The wasps will go right into their hive and take their honey, killing the bees while doing it. The bees try to fight back, but the wasps seem to be stronger equipped for battle. Poor bees!!! :/

[MrVernunft]

Sehr schön gemachtes Video!!

[snipsmcfudge]

in my neighborhood honeybees, bumblebees, and carpenter bees are thriving today me and my friends caught alot of them

[Truefirech]

there may be some validity to your statement Shizzle, the stress and such caused by such endeavors needs to be studied a little more in depth. We need answers to this issue, no doubt.

[Truefirech]

What an amazing video, wow!~ Great footage my man. Thanks for spreading the news brother, keep at it...

WE certainly need to change our mindset in regards to our approach in how we treat our earth

One more thing that makes this video so intriguing is the bees going about their daily functions while the mallard hens talk in the background. Neato!

Thanks for sharing .

Chris

[david062172]

It is true that after the worlds bee population dies off the human race will soon follow. I understand that bees are an integral part of the ecosystem and that without them most of our food resources will disappear. People who believe it is possible to save the bee population are self righteous morons. One day the human race will go the way of the dinosaurs and all the other forms of life on earth that have become extinct. You cannot stop the inevitable.

[coledelaney1]

save the bees save the trees save the wales.......................sa­ve those snails