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).
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