BuzzWord Newsletter of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Issue 9 2009

www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk 1 Contents of Issue 9: Editorial As many of you may know, February marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Therefore, in keeping with the celebrations that are taking place across the Editorial Page 3 country, we thought that we’d start this issue of Buzzword with a look at the great man’s fascination with bees. Please turn to page 4 to find out how he added to our Darwin and the Humble-Bee Page 4 understanding of these intriguing creatures. This issue is also packed with suggestions as Bumblebee research; get involved! Page 6 to how you too can help to add to our knowledge of bumblebees by getting involved in Bees in the news Page 9 some of BBCT’s research projects. Page 6 will help to get you started. Centre spread Page 10 Help BBCT to blossom! Page 12 Bees are becoming increasingly big news and have graced the pages of the world’s newspapers on several occasions Members’ pages Page 14 over the past few months. Please see page 9 to update Children’s pages Page 16 yourself on what is going on in the world of bees. The Classifieds Page 18 importance of both bumblebees and honeybees is gradually being recognised throughout the country, and Who are we: encouragingly within the government. Several members of Prof. Dave Goulson - Director the BBCT team had the pleasure of meeting MEP Alyn Dr. Ben Darvill - Director and Development Manager Smith (Edinburgh) and MSP Bruce Crawford () Lucie Southern - Conservation Officer earlier this year and were delighted to discuss how the Bob Dawson - Scottish Conservation Officer plight of the bumblebee could be pushed further up the Christiane Nitsch - Trust Administrator political agenda both in the UK and throughout Europe. Emma Heskey - Trust Administrator Gillian Lye - PhD student and BeeWatch co-ordinator The Trust is once again gearing up for a busy spring and summer, and is currently planning much of its on-the- ground conservation work. We’re particularly keen to hear MSP Alyn Smith, Lucie Contacts from farmers, land owners and managers who are Bumblebee Conservation Trust, School of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Southern, MSP Bruce interested in helping bumblebees on their land. So Crawford and Bob Dawson University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA. Tel: 01786 467818 interested individuals - please do get in touch.

Membership enquiries: [email protected] We’ve also started this year’s round of events and General enquiries: [email protected] talks. Bob the giant bumblebee joined local children to BeeWatch: [email protected] help celebrate the opening of Bonnyfield Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in Falkirk. Conservation Officer Lucie Full details of Trust activities and more information about bumblebees can be found on Southern gave a presentation to the Helensburgh our web pages at: Beekeepers and Natural History Society and was delighted to find such a large and enthusiastic www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk audience. Giving talks to local interest groups and schools is a fantastic way of raising awareness about bumblebee conservation. However, BBCT staff can Please renew your membership! only do so many. Could you give a simple talk to your You may have received a letter with this magazine, local group or school? A pack is available to help you do this if you would like to try. Please notifying you that your membership has expired. We see page 12 for more information about this and other ways in which you can help the very much hope that you will choose to stay with us and Trust. With your help 2009 can be a landmark year for the Trust… would like to thank those who have already renewed. Without your continued support there would be very This stunning photo was Changes are afoot amongst the BBCT staff this year. March sees us saying farewell to taken by Robert Smith and little that we could do to save our beautiful bumblebees! Conservation Officer Lucie Southern and a temporary goodbye to Trust Administrator shows an early bumblebee Christiane Nitsch as she settles into maternity leave. We wish Chrissie all the best for (B. pratorum) feeding on a motherhood and extend a very warm welcome to Emma Heskey who is doing a fine job of strawberry flower. 2 keeping the Trust office ticking over nicely in Chrissie’s absence! 3 “I hate bees” Darwin experimented with marking the bees by sprinkling flour from a sugar-shaker onto them as they went buy. He found that “The routes remain the same for a considerable Charles Darwin and the humble-bee time, and the buzzing places are fixed within an inch. I was able to prove this by stationing Dave Goulson five or six of my children each close to a buzzing place, and telling the one farthest away

th to shout out " here is a bee " as soon as one was buzzing around. The others followed this This February is the 200 anniversary of the birth of the up, so that the same cry of "here is a bee " was passed on from child to child without great biologist Charles Darwin. He is of course famous for interruption until the bees reached the buzzing place where I myself was standing”. We his explanation of how evolution occurs by natural selection, now know that the male bees mark their route early in the morning with pheromones that but some of his other interests are less well known. At they paste onto a twig or leaf at each buzzing place with their mouthparts. We assume varying times during his life he spent long periods studying that this communal patrolling behaviour and the use of pheromones serves to attract coral reefs, barnacles, earthworms, pigeons, orchids, and queenCopyright??? bees looking for a mate, but to my knowledge neither Darwin nor anybody else has bumblebees, or humble-bees as he knew them. That he actually seen a queen bee attracted to one of these routes. was very fond of humble-bees is evident from the following quote: Darwin was particularly intrigued to note that male bees used the same route in “The humble-bees, amounting to thirty-five species, form one of the finest groups of consecutive years, even though the individual bees were all different since male bees only insects in this country, and, from their size and striking colours, are well known by every live for a few weeks. How can they know what route was used the year before? Does one” some of the pheromone remain? Or are the routes attractive to male bees in some other way? I am sure that, if Darwin were alive, it would only be a matter of time before he It is interesting to note that Darwin says there are 35 species; it is certain that there were would find the answers to these questions! never this many species in the UK. He spent many hours in his garden at Down House in Kent, observing bumblebees. Darwin was among the first to describe nectar-robbing in Although Darwin provided us with many brilliant insights into all sorts of aspects of biology bumblebees, whereby workers of some species bite holes in the back of flowers to steal and geology, the great man was not infallible. On one occasion he enlisted the help of a the nectar. He predicted that “All plants must suffer in some degree when bees obtain friend, John Lubbock, to study honeybees. Darwin had been watching honeybees feeding their nectar in a felonious manner by biting holes through the corolla” on clover, and noted that some individuals seemed to specialize in nectar robbery while others climbed into flowers by the conventional route. He formed the notion that the nectar Darwin was also the first to describe the odd mate location behaviour of male robbers might be forced into robbery because they have shorter tongues than their sisters, bumblebees, which he studied by enlisting the help of his numerous children. In high and he asked John Lubbock to catch a large sample of each and measure their tongues. summer he noticed streams of bees passing along a hedgerow, all going in the same Lubbock wrote to Darwin, informing him that both groups of bees had tongues of identical direction, pausing every few metres to hover by a tree-trunk, post, or prominent twig length. Darwin was clearly mortified to have made this mistake, and wrote back “I beg a (these sites he described as “buzzing places”). When he caught the bees he found that million pardons. Abuse me to any degree, but forgive me: it is all an illusion about the they were all male bees. I do so hope you have not wasted any time for my stupid blunder - I hate myself, I garden bumblebees hate clover and I hate bees” (Bombus hortorum). There was a deep ditch Darwin’s Barberry adjacent to the hedge, Berberis darwinii, commonly known as which was thorny, so Darwin’s Barberry, belongs to the family Darwin persuaded his Berberidaceae and was collected from the children to crawl in to the island of Chiloe, off Chile, by Darwin on the ditch to better observe Beagle voyage. the bees: “I could only follow them [the male This evergreen, thorny shrub makes a very bees] along this ditch by attractive and good all-round addition to making several of my any garden or urban green space. It is children crawl in, and lie fantastic for bees and other insects, and on their tummies, but in the berries are a good source of food for this way I was able to A map from Darwin’s notes, showing the route that the male birds in summer and autumn. It will grow to track the bees for about bumblebees were taking along the hedgerow about 3-4m tall, is very hardy and is easy twenty-five yards”. to grow in most soils. It is also ideal as a 4 hedgerow shrub. 5 Bumblebee research; opportunities to get involved How does a sniffer dog find a bumblebee nest?! Can you help us find out? Research is a vital part of conservation. It provides essential evidence upon which informed decisions can be made. There are several ways in which you can get involved in Steph O’Connor and Toby the sniffer dog are our dynamic our research, so please read on to hear more about three upcoming opportunities. nest finding duo. Toby has been specially trained to sniff out the distinctive smell of bumblebee nests. These nests A stunning bottom at the top: have you seen my Mountain Bumblebee? are incredibly difficult for humans to find, as they are often underground or in thick vegetation. That isn’t a problem for Christiane Nitsch Toby’s keen nose though and, with the help of his handler What could be better than sitting on top of a Steph, we hope that he will help us to learn more about mountain with the sweat slowly drying off, an the size and distribution of rare bumblebee populations. opened lunchbox on your lap and enjoying the magnificent scenery….? Possibly the buzzing-by Steph is a research assistant at the University of Stirling, of a small, furry, red-bottomed creature called the studying bumblebee nesting ecology, and she needs your Mountain or Blaeberry Bumblebee (Bombus help to carry out her work this season. As part of her monticola). They never appear to sweat quite as research, Steph would like to identify the different smells much making their way up the hill and seem quite that are produced by bumblebee nests, in order to determine exactly what it is that Toby is relaxed despite the rough and harsh conditions on searching for when he’s trying to locate a nest. It is hoped that this knowledge will, many mountain tops. amongst other things, be used to fine-tune Toby’s nose!

All hillwalkers, ramblers and mountaineers are invited to help in a simple survey to look out To do this, Steph needs to take samples of the chemicals that are released into the air for this special bumblebee between March and September. Please help us find out more around bumblebee nests. The nests need to be in secure places however, so that they about its distribution by telling us where (and also where you don’t!) encounter this are not disturbed during the experiment. Gardens are ideal. If you find a bumblebee nest beautiful pollinator. Specialist knowledge of bumblebees is not essential, as the we can this year, please would you consider letting Steph access the nest? It doesn’t matter where provide easy-to-follow guidelines and a recording form. Although B. monticola has no you are located in the country - Steph is able to travel to any suitable site. Ideally, the work official ‘Red Book’ Status, long-term range contractions give cause for concern. We are needs to be carried out as early in the year as possible, so members in the south of interested in records from all over the country, and further information on habitat andDay Photo: Steve England are well placed to help as bumblebees generally emerge earlier here than behaviour. elsewhere.

From what we do know, B. monticola favours heather moorland and old Scots pine woods Steph would need to visit the site to take samples after dusk and before dawn each day. that are rich in flowering blaeberry and heathers, sallows, bird’s-foot trefoil and white The work may take up to four days to complete and please be assured that the bees would clover, particularly on south-facing slopes between 400-1250m. However, I have also not be harmed in any way. If you think you may be able to help, please contact Steph at seen one buzzing past me at the top of the rather bleak and rough summit of Schiehallion [email protected] or call the Trust on 01786 467818. in , and it can forage on flower-rich areas down to 100m. So, that large red bottom could pop up and surprise you almost anywhere! Call for transect recorders! Christiane Nitsch Up until now wide-scale monitoring has been limited by the low availability of volunteers to carry out survey work and the difficulties inherent in working in upland and mountain areas. In 2008 we successfully piloted a project, which aims to set up a network of regular B. monticola is relatively easy to identify even by non-specialists, but taking a digital bumblebee recorders. Nearly 40 volunteers have since been regularly recording and count- photograph can be invaluable. It is the most eye-catching of a number of upland ing the bumblebees along a walk near their home - so a big thank you to you all! bumblebee species, and your information will help provide an indicator of the health of our wonderful mountain habitats. The Beewatch scheme aims to gather UK wide distribution data for all of our bumblebee species, which will be added to the considerable data collected by BWARS. However If you are a hillwalker, rambler or mountaineer or simply enjoy the outdoors and would like relative abundance data is also needed in order to monitor changes in bumblebee popula- to be a ‘Monticola Monitor’, please contact Christiane Nitsch at BBCT: e-mail tions. To obtain this we need regular bumblebee recorders (very similar to the Butterfly [email protected], telephone 01786 467818) or visit Monitoring Scheme), who are willing to walk a set route (transect) in their local area at www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk/monticola.htm regular intervals throughout the bumblebee season, and over a number of years. This work

6 7 will be crucial in helping us to monitor how bumble- Bees in the News bee populations change over time and therefore in- Bees continue to hit the news even at this time of year when few are to be seen. At least forming our conservation strategies. some of the news is good this time—and it is great to see awareness of bumblebee de- clines leading to local initiatives around the country, such as those in Aberdeen and Es- Now is the best time to sign up, request your starter sex. The news from Canada is more alarming; some bumblebee species have disap- pack and get organised for the bumblebee season. peared in recent years, probably due to a disease that was accidentally imported to North Simply send us an email or write to the usual America from Europe along with bees reared for pollinating glasshouse tomatoes address and we will post out all the information you Canvey Island Bumblebee Park Aberdeen bumblebee sanctuary need to get set up. All you need to provide is between 45min to two hours of your time, once a Essex Echo, 10 March The Press and Journal, 10 March month.

Canvey Island is one of the last refuges for Marshall Photo: Sarah Volunteers from Aberdeen Foyer, with We would like to point out that this monitoring the shrill carder bee. To celebrate this, the funding from Scottish Natural Heritage, method does requires a commitment to record Echo reports that a seafront park is to be have created a bumblebee haven in a regularly throughout the bumblebee season unlike transformed with bumblebee-friendly plant- neglected concrete area at the Marywell the Beewatch scheme. Please don’t let this ings, mosaics of insects designed by local Centre in Aberdeen. Aberdeen Foyer is a discourage you – maybe you have a favourite walk school children, and a centrepiece of a gi- charity which aims to prevent homeless- or stroll you do on a regular basis to get a bit of fresh ant metal bumblebee sculpture. The project ness and unemployment in Aberdeen. is largely funded by Essex County Council. air or walk your dog? Or even your standard Bravo to them says the BBCT! lunchtime walk? Any length between one and four Map of our current transect loca- kilometres would be fine and could be converted to a tions—can you help to fill a gap? monthly bumblebee transect... Rusty-patched bumblebee disappears from Canada Ottawa Citizen, 9 March Beewatch Discovery The attached photo was sent in to Beewatch by Elizabeth Haskell of south Shropshire. It is quite clearly a red- shanked carder bumblebee, one of the UK’s rarest species and on the “Biodiversity Action Plan” list. This species is superficially very similar to the red-tailed bumblebee, but has distinctive red hairs on the hind legs forming the pol- len baskets. It is unusual for these to show up so well in a photograph.

To the best of our knowledge this species Ten years ago, the rusty-patched bumblebee Bombus affinis was one of the commonest had never previously been recorded in bumblebees in Canada. Its range is shown on the map. In a survey in 2005, just 1 of Shropshire, so this photograph caused 9,000 bumblebees recorded in a survey was a rusty-patched. The bee has not been seen considerable excitement among the since in Canada. PhD student Sheila Colla suspects the disappearance can be blamed on Beewatch team. Knowing exactly where commercially reared bumblebees. "because they're reared in really artificial conditions, our rare species survive is, of course, we get the same problems we see in farmed salmon," Colla said. Crowding can breed extremely important if we are to conserve disease, and she suspects the farmed bees spread disease to wild ones. "It hasn't been Red-shanked carder bee photographed by them. Please keep on emailing your proven that that's the reason for decline," but the decline came shortly after the bee- Elizabeth Haskell, Ludlow, Shropshire digital photos to Beewatch - you never rearing practice began. know what might turn up! 8 9

Ann Greenizan raised £100.63 for BBCT by Can you help BBCT to blossom? climbing to the first platform of the main mast of the tall ship, SV Tenacious - 45 feet above BBCT Director and Development Manager Dr. Ben Darvill the main deck! Ann says “This was a personal needs your help to say ‘BUZZ OFF’ to the credit crunch…. challenge. Not being one for heights, I climbed the mast in the shelter of Santa Cruz harbour Your BBCT needs YOU! I’m really hopeful that 2009 will be a in Tenerife on 12 November 2008 with the landmark year for the Trust. We’ve passed 3,000 members, voyage crew below shouting on have 2 Conservation Officers and a (currently top secret) encouragement!” We would like to say a huge Project Officer - more soon... Things are going really well! thank you to Ann for overcoming her fears in order to raise a fantastic amount for However, there’s so much more that we’d like to do, and YOU bumblebee conservation! How about a can help us get there faster. I hope that these two pages will sponsored bungee jump in 2009 Ann?! give you some inspiration. Why me?  Fundraise for BBCT - We could send you a fundraisers pack full of ideas. Many charities occasionally put up their membership fees to increase income. We don’t We’re now registered with Justgiving.com, which makes sponsorship SO EASY! want to do that - we want to make sure that everyone can be involved in the work of the  Talk to your garden centre - Tell the manager about our work, take them Trust. Instead, we’re hope that our members will all voluntarily help us just that little bit some of our leaflets or factsheets - make sure they sell bee friendly plants! more. If all 3,200+ members did JUST ONE THING it would make an enormous  Give a talk or run a walk - You don’t need to be an expert to do this - just difference. What one thing could YOU do? share your enthusiasm. Presenters packs available, plus help with running walks...   Distribute some leaflets - What could be easier than putting a little holder of Upgrade your membership - Why not become a Friend or Fellow of BBCT? our leaflets in a local library, garden centre or wildlife reserve?  Make a donation - If all of our members made a £10 donation…  Write to your local MP or council - Tell them about bumblebee declines  Recruit a friend - Surely you know ONE person who would enjoy being a member and ask them what is being done locally to help. This could make a big difference! of BBCT? Encourage them to join!  Sell pin badges and seed packets - We can send you these on a sale or  Fill some seed packets - We could send you seeds, empty packets and return basis. Your colleagues or customers could raise a few extra pounds... instructions, and you could send them back to us full - all you need is a little time.  Sign up your school or business - We have new Corporate and Associate membership schemes - ask for more information.

Sponsored walk or run · Sell pin badges · CAKE SALE Garden open day · Coffee morning Loose change · Odd jobs fxÄÄ ÑÄtÇàá · Dress down day Sweepstake · Wine tasting · Make cards · Quiz night · RAFFLE Ken Parry and his wife put on Swear box · race night · everyclick a bumblebee conservation Member Julie Collier replenishing BBCT leaflet JUMBLE SALE · justgiving.com display at the Apple and Harvest show at Kingston stocks in her local park’s visitor centre. Joanna Taylor hands out leaflets TWITTER at a Hawk & Owl Trust fundraiser. BLOG · Facebook · · Maurward College in Dorset. 12 13 Members’ Pages Dear BBCT Thank you to Richard Lakin-Inzunza for Unusual names for I thought you might like to see sending in one of his favourite Dingbats! that it is not only us members who Can you spot the commonly used phrase? bumblebees are interested in the newsletters! Whilst reading my July 08 issue of ‘Canny Nanny’ the newsletter, I found a white tailed bumblebee sitting on the This is a colloquial name coined in top of the 'Busy Bees' page. I central and southern Scotland. rushed inside to get my camera Beekeeper George Hood tells us that and was able to snap some the name is given to a yellow photos before the bee flew away! bumblebee that cannot sting. The name probably actually refers to male Photo: Wendy Ford, Lichfield bumblebees of species such as the white-tailed bumblebee and great yellow bumblebee, which often have Dear BBCT Dear BBCT yellow faces and more yellow on their bodies than the females. Males We are from an early learning centre in I saw your report from BBC and live in cannot sting (the sting evolved from Invercargill New Zealand. One of our chil- Georgia, United States. I have noticed that the egg-laying tube). However, we do dren has asked the question "Do bumble- bumblebees absolutely cover up my not advise picking them up to test this bees do poos and wees?" We cannot find hummingbird feeders. One in particular. I theory, unless you are very sure of the answer to this question! Please can replenish them DAILY and clean them from your ID skills, as mistakes can be you help? the black mould that seems to grow within a Answer at the bottom of this page painful! day. I wonder if there is any correlation Thank you. From Tina Phillips and the chil- between the mould in these feeders and the Purple haze: This unusual looking insect is dren from Georgetown Early Learning infections noted in the bees in recent years. actually a bumblebee but one that is Centre. We rejoice when we see honey bees, absolutely covered in poppy pollen, which is understanding their widespread decline over a striking purple colour. Many flowers Dear Tina, the last decade. I've been to friend's homes produce yellow or orange pollen, some An interesting question! Bees actually and notice that most do not keep the produce white pollen, and a very few produce combine their poos and wees to produce hummingbird feeders clean at all. It has black or purple pollen. Pollen grains also vary single droplets of sticky brown liquid that become more popular and accessible but we in shape, so than an expert can look at the come out of their bottoms. As mentioned may be inadvertently contributing to their pollen on a bee and see exactly where it has on the opposite page, pollen grains have a decline. been distinctive shape and so you can see what flowers a bee has been feeding on by Leslie Lesoon Wood, Georgia Photo: Ted Wallace, Fife looking closely at its poo under a micro- scope! Dear Leslie, Honeybees and bumblebees in North America You might also be interested to know that have been suffering from a range of diseases, Member Quote the bees in New Zealand were taken there both viral and protozoan, in recent years. “Once you realise that it is possible to identify at least the "Big Six" it's easy to get into from Kent in England in about 1895, and However, we do not think that the mould you bees. Even if you can't do that, a visit to the meadow at Vane Farm [RSPB reserve - have been living there ever since. They mention infects bees, so do not worry that you the location of BBCT’s bumblebee sanctuary] this year would convince anyone that were brought over to pollinate the red clo- are harming them. In Europe we do not have bumblebees are worth studying and, more importantly, enjoying. They really are ver crops that are still grown in New Zea- hummingbirds, so nobody has these nectar amongst the most fantastic animals.” land feeders. Perhaps we should try some! Norman Storie, . One of our longest standing members!

14 15 Answer to Dingbat: “Beauty is in the ‘I’ of the beeholder!” beeholder!” the of ‘I’ the in is “Beauty Dingbat: to Answer Children's Pages Please send in your drawings, poems and puzzles. We’ll put them on our children’s webpage and will include our favourites in future issues of Buzzword! Busy Bees is getting a makeover!

This will be the last Busy Bees that you’ll receive in its current format. That’s because our children’s newsletter is currently undergoing a transformation! We have long wanted to produce Busy Bees in colour, to make it more appealing to children, so we currently have designers working on a new and exciting look.

To date, we have sent Busy Bees to every member. We are keen to save paper wherever possible and therefore the new look newsletter will only be automatically sent to child and family memberships, and to schools. However, if you do not fall into one of these categories but would like to continue receiving Busy Bees, all you need to do is let us know and we’ll happily include it. Alternatively, you’ll be able to access it online via our website in the near future, along with all of the back issues. Photo: Dick Alderson This bumblebee looks very happy amongst the flowers and a clear blue sky! She was drawn by Matthew My Little Bumblebee Bumblebees come in lots of different sizes & Salisbury who is six years old. Matthew By Giulia Paxton (aged 8) colours. Here are some lovely multi-coloured loves hunting for bumblebees in his bumblebees! By Noeni Austin (age 4). garden in Preston. My little bumblebee goes to school My little bumblebee likes to play pool She likes to sing She likes to dance She takes her holiday in France

Here are two lovely pictures of bumblebees investigating some yummy looking flowers! Above: Laura Paxton (age 6) and right: Jack Monaghan (age 8)

16 17 ADVERTISE IN BUZZWORD Buzzword goes out to our rapidly growing membership of >2,350 three times per year. If you would like to advertise in Buzzword, contact [email protected] to find out about our competitive rates.

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18 19 Recruit a friend or make a donation to help BBCT conserve the UK’s bumblebees I would like to join the BBCT / I would like to make a donation:

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