Awful news, but sadly not unexpected. 2024 was the first year in which I didn't see a single Red-tailed #bumblebee queen or worker... - ThreadSky

brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social • 23 hours ago

Awful news, but sadly not unexpected.

2024 was the first year in which I didn't see a single Red-tailed #bumblebee queen or worker...

Reposted from Bumblebee Conservation Trust

It’s official, 2024 was the worst year for bumblebees since records began🚨

The latest findings from #BeeWalk, our national bumblebee monitoring scheme, have revealed bumblebee numbers declined by almost a quarter (22.5%) across Great Britain💔

Read on: www.bumblebeeconservation.org/british-bumb...

Comments

slightlyhowling.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Oh no, this is terrible. I'd like to help, but I'm in an apartment. Or is this something where bigger interventions are needed than personal?

brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Large scale policy interventions needed, but I wonder if you could place window boxes or hanging baskets outside your windows, and fill them with something like mediterranean herbs?

baron-of-navan.bsky.social•22 hours ago

we must do better and restore nature

rovingrollo.bsky.social•18 hours ago

I was reading about that earlier in The Guardian... it's an awful statistic, hopefully we'll have a better Spring this year... last year was horrible.
We're doing what we can to help in our garden and we have seen two or three already this year, hopefully there are a lot more to come.

shropshirematt.bsky.social•23 hours ago

We've had a grassy/soil bank near us that has always had ashy mining bees, sadly none last year.

brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Goodness, that's concerning. I always think of Ashy mining bees as invincible...

shropshirematt.bsky.social•19 hours ago

Hopefully there will be some back this year. 🤞

benjyhere.bsky.social•18 hours ago

I saw a queen red tailed bb very briefly once last year in the garden but no workers after that... used to have them on the chives a lot. Variety has crashed since the excessive heat wave a couple of years ago.

rubysmom55.bsky.social•21 hours ago

😢

borisnorris.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Same sad story for us here in East Sussex. The farm we are next to is converting from pasture and silage to wild flower meadows, so this may improve things.

brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social•21 hours ago

That sounds encouraging, David.

borisnorris.bsky.social•21 hours ago

The subsidies are better!

revpd.bsky.social•21 hours ago

We had Red Mason Bees emerging from the small holes in our chimney stack, but otherwise there was little sign of the many bees we had previous years.

wisbirder.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Very sad news.

ruthnewby.bsky.social•15 hours ago

I saw some but a lot fewer than usual; they didn’t visit the chives and alliums as they usually do. Tree Bumblebee was even scarcer.

sarahwhild.bsky.social•23 hours ago

That is sad, and the same here. They were usually the first queens on Lonicera fragrantissima but now lucorum and terrestris so far and nothing else ☹️

simonsummerisle72.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I barely saw any, and I'm struggling to recall seeing a single tree bumblebee

brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social•21 hours ago

We had a Tree bumblebee nest in our garden last summer, but sadly it didn't produce any reproductives...

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply