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Returning rare bumblebee to Britain is a dauntingly complex mission Returning rare bumblebee to Britain is a dauntingly complex mission
(4 months later)
The technology – a Fiat Ducato camper van with a reliable fridge – is the easy bit. But the heroic mission to reintroduce the short-haired bumblebee (Bombus subterraneus) to Britain is dauntingly complex.The technology – a Fiat Ducato camper van with a reliable fridge – is the easy bit. But the heroic mission to reintroduce the short-haired bumblebee (Bombus subterraneus) to Britain is dauntingly complex.
This week Nikki Gammans, a biologist and the driving force behind the bid to return this rare bee to Britain, led the release of 49 queens on the RSPB's reserve by the brooding Dungeness nuclear power station.This week Nikki Gammans, a biologist and the driving force behind the bid to return this rare bee to Britain, led the release of 49 queens on the RSPB's reserve by the brooding Dungeness nuclear power station.
It follows the release of 51 bees last summer and the statistics demonstrate just how challenging re-establishing a lost insect species can be.It follows the release of 51 bees last summer and the statistics demonstrate just how challenging re-establishing a lost insect species can be.
The headline figure – not one of those 51 short-haired bumblebees has been seen again in the wild since their release – is discouraging. But if anyone can succeed it is Gammans, supported by a coalition of supporters including local farmers, government agency Natural England, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Hymettus.The headline figure – not one of those 51 short-haired bumblebees has been seen again in the wild since their release – is discouraging. But if anyone can succeed it is Gammans, supported by a coalition of supporters including local farmers, government agency Natural England, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Hymettus.
Gammans studied under Prof Jeremy Thomas, architect of the most successful insect reintroduction project in the world – returning the extinct large blue butterfly (again using stock from Sweden) to the West Country. That mission took Thomas more than a decade – and the short-haired bumblebee project may need as much patience.Gammans studied under Prof Jeremy Thomas, architect of the most successful insect reintroduction project in the world – returning the extinct large blue butterfly (again using stock from Sweden) to the West Country. That mission took Thomas more than a decade – and the short-haired bumblebee project may need as much patience.
It was 2009 when Gammans began working on the first ever programme to reintroduce a native bumblebee. For the third year running this spring she drove her van (purchased not with lavish conservation funding – that doesn't exist – but with a modest family inheritance) to southern Sweden. There, with the blessing of the Swedish authorities, she and her small team of volunteers caught 100 queen bees.It was 2009 when Gammans began working on the first ever programme to reintroduce a native bumblebee. For the third year running this spring she drove her van (purchased not with lavish conservation funding – that doesn't exist – but with a modest family inheritance) to southern Sweden. There, with the blessing of the Swedish authorities, she and her small team of volunteers caught 100 queen bees.
Gammans and half-a-dozen volunteers had a tiny window in which to catch the queens before they began nesting, and had to release any bees carrying pollen – a sign they had already established nests.Gammans and half-a-dozen volunteers had a tiny window in which to catch the queens before they began nesting, and had to release any bees carrying pollen – a sign they had already established nests.
The bees were then placed in the Fiat's fridge to send them into a relaxed torpor on the long drive home. Once in Britain, they were placed in quarantine for two weeks.The bees were then placed in the Fiat's fridge to send them into a relaxed torpor on the long drive home. Once in Britain, they were placed in quarantine for two weeks.
The previous summer, the bees were fed thanks to volunteers who collected pollen from other wild bees by catching them and gently brushing it off their bodies. To gather just 10g, volunteer Alan Kenworthy went out three times a week last summer and harvested pollen from more than 300 wild bees. (Bees are rather more efficient pollen collectors than man.)The previous summer, the bees were fed thanks to volunteers who collected pollen from other wild bees by catching them and gently brushing it off their bodies. To gather just 10g, volunteer Alan Kenworthy went out three times a week last summer and harvested pollen from more than 300 wild bees. (Bees are rather more efficient pollen collectors than man.)
Last year, the Swedish queens began laying eggs in quarantine, perhaps because they were fed too well. So this year, Gammans fed them nectar and just one grain of pollen each day, before rapidly increasing their ration in the days before release so they would have the requisite energy for their release into the countryside.Last year, the Swedish queens began laying eggs in quarantine, perhaps because they were fed too well. So this year, Gammans fed them nectar and just one grain of pollen each day, before rapidly increasing their ration in the days before release so they would have the requisite energy for their release into the countryside.
Despite more than half succumbing to parasites and other diseases (as they would in the wild) while quarantined, Gammans and her team reckoned that the 49 survivors looked much livelier than last year's.Despite more than half succumbing to parasites and other diseases (as they would in the wild) while quarantined, Gammans and her team reckoned that the 49 survivors looked much livelier than last year's.
The bee I carefully released from its individual container onto yellow flag iris was certainly in fine fettle as it busily drank nectar and then cruised off, with that casual, heavy-looking flight of one of Britain's best loved insects.The bee I carefully released from its individual container onto yellow flag iris was certainly in fine fettle as it busily drank nectar and then cruised off, with that casual, heavy-looking flight of one of Britain's best loved insects.
Some people may wonder what is the point of spending so much energy on reintroducing one rare species of bumblebee, that was last seen in Dungeness – an improbable bumblebee hotspot – in 1988. But, as Dave Goulson argues in his excellent new book, A Sting in the Tale, the project is already a massive success.Some people may wonder what is the point of spending so much energy on reintroducing one rare species of bumblebee, that was last seen in Dungeness – an improbable bumblebee hotspot – in 1988. But, as Dave Goulson argues in his excellent new book, A Sting in the Tale, the project is already a massive success.
Thanks to Gammans' work with local landowners, more than 850 hectares of Romney Marsh around Dungeness is now farmed sensitively, allowing for wild flower strips and traditional meadows, which will help the short-haired bumblebee re-establish itself. More importantly, this management benefits thousands of rare species – birds of prey, songbirds, rodents and butterflies. Some of the rarest of Britain's 25 bumblebee species are already thriving: the shrill carder and the ruderal bumblebee have returned to Dungeness after an absence of more than two decades.Thanks to Gammans' work with local landowners, more than 850 hectares of Romney Marsh around Dungeness is now farmed sensitively, allowing for wild flower strips and traditional meadows, which will help the short-haired bumblebee re-establish itself. More importantly, this management benefits thousands of rare species – birds of prey, songbirds, rodents and butterflies. Some of the rarest of Britain's 25 bumblebee species are already thriving: the shrill carder and the ruderal bumblebee have returned to Dungeness after an absence of more than two decades.
Gammans is "not too worried" about the lack of positive sighting of last year's queens – it's so difficult to monitor something as small and mobile as a bumblebee that she is convinced there will be survivors somewhere. "Obviously last year wasn't the best year for the bees, it was cold and wet, but the queens that survived are going to be pretty tough and pretty feisty," she said. "They are going to be able to cope with anything in the future."Gammans is "not too worried" about the lack of positive sighting of last year's queens – it's so difficult to monitor something as small and mobile as a bumblebee that she is convinced there will be survivors somewhere. "Obviously last year wasn't the best year for the bees, it was cold and wet, but the queens that survived are going to be pretty tough and pretty feisty," she said. "They are going to be able to cope with anything in the future."
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