The 'Humble' Bumble Bee

Welcome

The decline in bumble bee populations over the years is dramatic and cause for great concern, not only because these wonderfully hard working creatures are such a joy to behold in our lovely English Country gardens, but because they are also responsible for pollinating more than one third of the crops of the food that we eat.(Far more so than the honey bee). 

This sad decline is due to many factors, not least of which is the loss of habitat for these foraging insects. Most of the meadows of the British Countryside have declined by up 95% since the early 1920's. Unless action is taken to halt this decline, the familiar buzzing sounds in your gardens at the height of summer will be lost forever.

The Bumble Bee Conservation Trust was formed 5 years ago, as a result of the bumble bee population decline.Based at Stirling in Scotland their aim is to monitor bumble bee populations in the United Kingdom and create an awareness amongst the British people and garner their support to help bees to once again thrive in gardens. 

Ron Rock, who is a local bumble bee enthusiast started giving illustrated talks at local events in and around Staffordshire last year. He was so well received and appreciated at these events, that he decided to set an event calendar for this year to cope with the demand. Following on from this, he suggested that a local group might be a good way to help our wonderful bees, so that local people could become involved and help educate others to be BEE friendly in their gardens. 

(go to contact page for details)   

(We can confirm, that since this was posted a new local group has indeed been formed and inaugurated. We are delighted to report that it has the approval of the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust (http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk).

We had our first meeting in March, well supported and buzzing with ideas for the future. There will be more news on this in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned. Our ultimate aim is to inform, educate and increase awareness to the British public of the immense importance of our native bumble bees; and to protect and increase available habitat for them to thrive in their colonies).

     

The Sound of Summer

Bumblebees are beautiful, hard working and incredibly important pollinators. In the last 70 years two species have become nationally extinct, and others have declined dramatically. 

In short, bumblebees are in trouble...

Now imagine a different future, in which our towns and countryside are rich in colourful wildflowers and teeming with bees, other beneficial insects and a diversity of wildlife for everyone to enjoy...The Sound of Summer

 Bumblebees are worth millions of pounds to the economy. They give us affordable "five-a-day" fruit and vegetables. Many crops depend on bumblebees for pollination to varying degrees. Beans, fruits, tomatoes and soft fruit crops all need insect pollination. In total the value of Europe's insect pollinators is estimated at €14.2 billion.

Imagine if bee declines continued... We wouldn't starve, but we would have to eat much more rice, pasta and bread. A healthy diet would become much more expensive - perhaps unaffordable for some?

Now imagine a different future, in which our towns and countryside are rich in colourful wildflowers and teeming with bees, other beneficial insects and a diversity of wildlife for everyone to enjoy...