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Forthcoming Events
Buzzing about in the Botanic Garden
University of Leicester
Botanic Garden
Sunday 31st July 2011, 2 - 4pm
Maximum 10 – 12 people
For further details and to book your place, please email us
Latest news
We're recruiting!
Following receipt of a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we are recruiting for an exciting new post:
Job title: BfE Conservation Officer (Scotland)
Starting salary: £19 - 23.5k
Duration: 32 months fixed-term contract in the first instance. Depending on project development and fundraising, this may be extended.
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust seeks to appoint an experienced, enthusiastic and highly capable individual to deliver work as part of our three-year Bees for Everyone project. This exciting and innovative UK-wide project aims to raise awareness of bumblebees and to support rare species through active conservation work to provide the flower-rich habitats they need.
As a BfE Conservation Officer (Scotland) you will deliver these aims in some of the most beautiful areas of Scotland – the Hebrides, Orkney and the rugged north coast. You will be based on the picturesque campus at the University of Stirling and will travel extensively in the summer months. Your work will focus on areas surrounding rare bumblebee populations, including the charismatic Great Yellow.
With experience of habitat management and conservation, particularly of grassland habitats, you will have a genuine enthusiasm for bumblebees. You will also have experience of working with farmers and other land managers, together with excellent communication skills and demonstrable flair for delivering engaging talks and other events.
For more information, visit www.bumblebeeconservation.org
To discuss the post informally please phone Ben Darvill on 01786 467819.
The closing date is 5pm, Friday 17th February, with interviews held on the 5th or 6th March in Stirling (Scotland).
The Bees for Everyone project has been generously supported by several funders, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage and an anonymous CAF donor.
For more information, please click on one of the links below. Application packs are provided in a range of formats.
We have just heard the fantastic news that we have received £340,000 in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund in support of our three-year Bees for Everyone project.
This funding adds to grants and donations from Scottish Natural Heritage, an anonymous CAF donor and several other generous supporters. It takes us to within reach of our fundraising target.
The Bees for Everyone project is only now beginning, but over the next three years this ambitious project will build on the most successful elements of our work to date in order to:
1) support rare bumblebees throughout the UK through active conservation work to safeguard, restore and create valuable bumblebee habitats
2) raise public awareness of the importance of bumblebees and the problems that they face, inspiring individual action
In practical terms, as the project progresses, this will mean more flower-rich habitat, more events, more opportunities for learning and participation and significant improvements and refinements in many other areas.
There is a lot of hard work ahead before we reach these aims, but we nevertheless hope that you will join us in celebrating this significant success. Thank you to everyone who has played a role in supporting our work to date.
Dr. Ben Darvill
Chief Executive Officer
BBCT would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following funders:
The Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage, Anonymous CAF donor, John Spedan Lewis Foundation, S G Charitable Trust, Ernest Cook Trust, Ernest Kleinwort CT
BEES CREATE A BUZZ AT UNION GALLERY
Union Gallery, located on Edinburgh’s Broughton Street, is hosting an exhibition of art dedicated to the bumblebee to highlight the decline in their populations. 20% of the proceeds of the exhibition will be donated to The Bumblebee Conservation Trust.
‘Plight of the Bumblebee’ is a fascinating exhibition of the highest quality in which several exceptional artists have created bee-related work as a method of highlighting the problem of the declining bee population and of raising funds to support their habitats. Artists as diverse as Derek McGuire, Jenny Matthews, Janet Melrose and Mark Edward along with Czech sculptor Marcela Trsova have all used their considerable talents and their concern about this issue to produce an exceptional and unique exhibition.
All the work has been inspired by the bumblebee, so this exhibition will both amuse and challenge the viewer. If you are visiting Edinburgh, please stop in and see these beautiful works of art.
The exhibition will run until 10th of October:
Union Gallery
45 Broughton Street
Edinburgh
EH1 3JU
Interested in learning more about bumblebees and how to identify them?
"Buzzing about in the Botanic Garden"
University of Leicester
Botanic Garden
Sunday 31st July 2011, 2 - 4pm
Maximum 10 – 12 people
For further details and to book your place, please email us
Scottish Natural Heritage gets BEEhind bees...
Scottish Natural Heritage has been one of BBCT's most generous supporters since we launched the charity in 2006. They have given us several grants to support our habitat restoration work, to employ our conservation staff and to enable us to reach more people with our conservation message.
Now they have got right beehind bees and produced this fun video. In their words:
"Biodiversity begins with a B is a darkly comic look at the importance of bees to our natural environment. The video highlights that some bees are not doing so well and promotes a few actions - such as growing wildflowers and using less pesticides - that we can all take to help support bees and the variety of living things around us."
BBCT response to Avaaz campaign against neonicotinoids
NOTE: See the end of this piece for an update
Avaaz is a 6.5-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making.
Yesterday they launched a campaign to urge the US and EU to suspend neonicotinoid pesticides. The full text of their campaign publicity can be read here.
BBCT share concerns about growing evidence suggesting that some pesticides, including neonicotinoids, are harmful to bees. [Note - if you share our concerns you might consider printing, signing and posting a letter to your MP. A template is available here on the website of our conservation partners, Buglife.]
However, there are some statements in the Avaaz summary which, based on BBCT's understanding of the scientific evidence, are not well supported. This weakens their position and threatens to make hard-won signatures less valuable. Furthermore, they make a strong case for pesticides being the root cause of global bee declines. In some instances pesticides may be seriously affecting honeybees, but it is BBCT's view that many of our wild bee species have declined primarily due to habitat loss and other factors, besides pesticide use. With honeybees the situation is also more complicated than the Avaaz literature implies. Disease has a significant role in ongoing declines.
BBCT value the efforts of Avaaz in raising awareness of important issues and galvanising mass support and peaceful protest. However, in this instance the arguments are oversimplified and at times incorrect. Calling for a ban on neonicotinoids as a precaution until thorough independent research confirms their safety seems prudent and has our support. However, the campaign materials risk polarising a complex issue and undermining efforts to tackle global bee declines from all necessary angles.
Points of clarification:
Only one of the UK’s ~250 species of bee makes honey that is harvested commercially by man. Globally there are ~7 species of honeybee and ~20,000 known species of bee.
Over 75% of the leading global fruit, vegetable and seed crop species are at least partially pollinated by animals. Pollination is either essential for any yield, or increases yield size or quality. It is estimated that more than 1/3 of our diet (by volume) comprises foods which depend on pollinators.
Although many scientific studies suggest reason for concern, there are other scientific studies that suggest these chemicals may present a low risk. To date they have not been banned in the UK on the basis that the science isn’t clear. Pesticides, sadly, seem to work on the basis of 'innocent until proven guilty'. Further independent research will be invaluable. BBCT support the view that a precautionary ban would be wise.
BBCT are not aware of scientific evidence which demonstrates that bee populations soared in four European countries as a result of the banning of certain chemicals.
BBCT agree that a ban on neonicotinoids would probably make a significant difference in some instances to bee populations in some areas of intensive arable agriculture, where flowering crops are common. However, sadly this would not ‘save our bees’ because the root cause of most wild bee declines is thought to be the drastic loss of flower-rich grasslands and other habitats which healthy bee populations depend on. The issues for honeybees are also complex, and better understanding, treatment and control of diseases will be important.
For populations of wild bees at least, sustainable populations require an integrated approach which combines a ban on the most harmful pesticides and a sympathetic approach to farming which supports and encourages pollinators. To bring about this it is essential to gain wider recognition of the ecosystem services that bees provide, backed up by policy-level support.
Wild bee populations in grazed or mixed-farming areas need supporting through a return to species-rich hay meadows instead of silage monocultures and clover ley crops instead of widespread fertiliser use (97% of lowland species-rich meadows have been lost since WWII). In arable areas, farms should be encouraged to manage low productivity areas (margins and corners) as flower-rich habitats. There is scientific evidence showing that this management causes a large increase in foraging bee numbers, although the evidence for population-level increases is harder to gather and hence less robust.
We believe that the figures for the economic importance of pollination in the Avaaz literature are incorrect. Gallai et al (2009) estimated that the total economic value of pollination to the world agricultural output amounted to €152.9 billion, which represented 9.5% of the value of the world agricultural production used for human food in 2005. They stress that their valuation demonstrates the economic importance of insect pollinators but cannot be considered as a scenario since it does not take into account the strategic responses of the markets. In the EU25 in 2005 the insect pollination economic value was estimated at €14.2 billion. In the UK, studies are somewhat out of date, but insect pollination has previously been valued at £440 million.
In summary, BBCT agree that it is worthwhile to make voices heard, but in order to be taken seriously by policy makers and scientists it is essential that campaigns are based on the available scientific evidence. Inaccuracies are likely to weaken the impact. Further, by simplifying the issue and ignoring the importance of other factors in global bee declines the campaign risks undermining ongoing conservation efforts. Studies suggest that the causes of bee declines differ between species and include factors such as disease, habitat loss, pesticides, inbreeding, climate change and others.
BBCT have contacted Avaaz and offered to help them reach a more robust campaign stance.
UPDATE: 19:00hrs on 07/01/2011 - Alex Wilks of Avaaz.org phoned BBCT and we have agreed to work together on the wording of any future releases and possibly on the eventual delivery of the petition.
BBCT - 07/01/2011
US leak reignites pesticide fears for UK bees
In a leaked memo, US government scientists warn that bees and other non-target invertebrates are at risk from a new neonicotinoid pesticide licence, and that tests in the approval process are unable to detect environmental damage.
This has reignited concerns raised in a 2009 scientific report by Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, which BBCT supported.
In the leaked memo the EPA scientists state that:
"information from standard tests and field studies, as well as incident reports involving other neonicotinoid insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) suggest the potential for long-term toxic risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects." They also criticise existing approvals research as deficient and request additional tests "for additional chronic testing on beehive activity (e.g., effects to queen, larvae, etc.)."
This reflects the conclusions of the 2009 Buglife report that highlighted inadequate testing in the European approvals process and asked the UK Government to review existing neonicotinoid and fipronil products authorised for outdoor use, with a precautionary suspension of products until the reviews are completed. To date, the UK Government has failed to act on these specific requests, despite the growing body of scientific evidence.
Franklin’s Bumblebee: IUCN Species of the Day (21/10/10)
Franklin’s bumblebee, (Bombus franklini), is classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Known only from southern Oregon and northern California, Franklin’s bumblebee has the most restricted range of any bumblebee in the world. Populations of Franklin’s bumblebee have declined rapidly since 1998, and this species is in imminent danger of extinction. Surveys carried out over more than a decade have illustrated how quickly this species has disappeared. In 1998, 94 individuals were found at eight sites, whereas in the past four years, only one individual has been observed.
Threats to this species include: exotic diseases, introduced via trafficking in commercial bumblebees for greenhouse pollination of tomatoes; habitat loss due to destruction, degradation and land conversion; and pesticides and pollution.
The bumblebee is hailed Britain's new environmental mascot at the 2010 Earthwatch debate
The bumblebee was declared Britain's environmental mascot at the 2010 Earthwatch debate on the 14th October.
Members of the audience were invited to cast their votes after five experts, each representing a different species, went head to head in a lively debate at the Royal Geographical Society in London.
Dr George McGavin, BBC Lost Lands presenter and Honorary Research Associate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History set the audience buzzing about bumblebees as his choice for Britain's environmental mascot.
Dr McGavin explained that Britain has 25 species of bumblebee [ed. currently 24] - ten per cent of the world bumblebee fauna, but that the bumblebee's habitats, such as hedgerows, are being lost at an alarming rate.
"They are a national treasure," said Dr McGavin, adding that bees were also hardworking and industrious pollinators, essential for the reproduction of many of the fruits and crops that we rely on for food.
The debaters were challenged to choose a species which both represents the UK's invaluable natural heritage, but also the British people's inimitable spirit. They were tasked with persuading the audience that their chosen species is vital to ecosystem health and British social and cultural identity.
Dr McGavin chose bumblebees, and triumphed over others advocating song thrushes, oak trees, bluebells and deep-sea coral.
I'm thrilled to say that we WON the National Lottery Award for Best Environment Project! A massive thank you to everyone that voted for us.
At a start-studded awards ceremony held at the Roundhouse in London, we waited nervously as Julia Bradbury and Matt Baker announced the nominees... A pause, and then "the winner is"... The Bumblebee Conservation Trust!
More news on this soon, with photos from the ceremony (and aftermath!) too, but I just wanted to share this wonderful news with you.
If you missed it live, you can watch the TV show on BBC iPlayer until the evening of Saturday 11th Sept. Click here to watch.
Our category starts 17 minutes and 20 seconds into the show.
On Friday 28th November Bruce Crawford MSP and Alyn Smith MEP came to visit BBCT. Bruce is minister for parliamentary business in the Scottish Government and Alyn is a full member of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee.
In an encouraging and productive meeting we discussed the importance of bumblebees to Europe's economy, our vision for halting their decline, and how governments might help us to achieve that vision.
We are very grateful to Bruce and Alyn for taking the time to meet with us, and we look forward to positive developments in the future.
Help BBCT, for free!
When you're shopping online, help BBCT by starting your searches on our webpages. Buying from Amazon by accessing their site from the search box on the left gives roughly 6% of your transaction to BBCT - no catch, and no cost to you!
Easyfundraising.org.uk works in a similar way, and allows you to raise funds for us while buying from major retailers including Comet, John Lewis, Boots, HMV, PC World, Play.com, Next, Phones4U, ToysRUs, Tiscali, Dell, Argos, The Body Shop, M&S and many more! It's a great way to help us this Christmas - simply click here to register
We've recently signed up to an excellent new site called everyclick.com. It's a search engine, just like Google, but with a difference. Every time you search, you generate funds for a charity of your choice. It doesn't cost you anything - there's no catch. The website uses the results from Ask.com (a popular search engine), and donates money for 'every click'. Please click the button on the left, and set the Bumblebee Conservation Trust as your charity of choice!
BEES CREATE A BUZZ AT UNION GALLERY 
Spaces available on bumblebee identification day
NOTE: See the end of this piece for an update
In a leaked memo, US government scientists warn that bees and other non-target invertebrates are at risk from a new neonicotinoid pesticide licence, and that tests in the approval process are unable to detect environmental damage. 
Franklin’s bumblebee, (Bombus franklini), is classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Known only from southern Oregon and northern California, Franklin’s bumblebee has the most restricted range of any bumblebee in the world. Populations of Franklin’s bumblebee have declined rapidly since 1998, and this species is in imminent danger of extinction. Surveys carried out over more than a decade have illustrated how quickly this species has disappeared. In 1998, 94 individuals were found at eight sites, whereas in the past four years, only one individual has been observed. 
The bumblebee was declared Britain's environmental mascot at the 2010 Earthwatch debate on the 14th October. 
I'm thrilled to say that we WON the National Lottery Award for Best Environment Project! A massive thank you to everyone that voted for us. 