Re: Bumble bee decline
Discussion Forum
Bumble bee decline
FarmerTom
21 Jul 2010, 11:29 PM
A lot has been said in the media about the decline in bees most of it with no scientific evidence to back it up. So to see the Insect Pollinator Initiative, which has £10m funding over 5 years to research the health and lifespan of pollinators is to be welcomed.
One aspect of the research that seems to be missing is the affect of badgers on bumble bee populations.
In our area the badger population is gradually increasing as is the number of bumble bee and wasp nests that are dug up and destroyed.
Re: Bumble bee decline
richardwinspear
22 Jul 2010, 9:55 AM
Hi Farmer Tom
There is some research out there. I found a study on the Natural History Museum website (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/bombus/decline.html) which claims to have looked at the effects of honeybee competition, predation, parasitism, herbicides and insecticides on bumblebee numbers and found that these factors either do not selectively disadvantage the declining species or they have not changed in the study area over the period of the decline. However, in chwecking up references, I could not find mention of badgers.
The conclusion of this study states that many factors could have contributed to the declines, but that the most important factor is likely to have been the loss of open habitats with the most rewarding food plants (those with flower depths of 7-9mm to be precise!)
This is the group most particularly benefitted by the nectar flower mixture option in agri-environment schemes, but the importance of flower-rich habitats is probably important for a wide range of wildlife, not least the plants themselves, if native flowering plants can be used.
Re: Bumble bee decline
FarmerTom
02 Aug 2010, 11:48 PM
Hi Richard,
I agree with your conclusion (reasons for decline of Bumblebees) and with your comments about wild flower margins. I guess one of the things I was trying to say is that we should not shy away from researching the effect of badgers on Bumblebees and on ground nesting birds. Just in case we do not like the results. We made that mistake before with mink and water voles and still some writers blame loss of habitat not mink!!.
Re: Bumble bee decline
richardwinspear
04 Aug 2010, 4:00 PM
Absolutely agree with you there! We have a long-running study on the effects of predation on lapwings.
We have found that land management can deliver strong sustainable lapwing populations on some sites, but that land management plus predator control is important on other sites.
Initial results from this study were included in the RSPB report "Predation and bird conservation in the UK", which can be downloaded from http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/science/predationreport.asp
Further analyses, including the relative importance of individual predators is ongoing.