Gift to Nature
an Isle of Wight conservation partnership
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What's up with our Bees?
There are serious problems with populations of bumblebees and honeybees. Three species of bumblebee are extinct and nine more are threatened, while honeybee populations have seen huge losses in some areas. Our understanding of solitary bees and their interaction with the social bees (honeybees and bumblebees) is limited. Bees play a vital role in our ecosystem, and their loss would be a huge threat to mankind – bees pollinate around three quarters of agricultural crops.
About the Bees
Honeybee threats
According to the British Bee Keepers Association, honeybee numbers have an annual decline of 17.3%. Latest research suggests that the Honey bee has inherent vulnerabilities to certain virus and fungus which may cause diminishing gene pools in populations and Colony Collapse Disorder, threatening their very existence. Its cause is not fully understood. One possible cause is a virus which attacks a single bee which then returns to the hive and infects the entire colony killing all the other bees – though increasingly evidence suggests multiple factors may be to blame.
Theories for CCD range from use of certain pesticides to increased mobile phone use! The biggest difficulty in finding the cause is that the bees are never found, and are thought to die far from the hive. Gift to Nature is contributing to National Bee research into the problem.
British Bumblebee Threats
Monoculture and intensive agriculture reduce availability of consistent food sources. Gift to Nature promotes planting of fruit trees and other nectar bearing plants such as Red Clover and Birdsfoot Trefoil.
Gift to Nature also manages several sites to encourage wildflowers and trees which provide a vital food source for wild bees. In 2009 we planted a new meadow at Chilton Chine with the help of the Isle of Wight Festival and Isle of Wight Pearl. Click here for details of Chilton Chine.
Loss of hedgerows reduces bee habitat so Gift to Nature sponsors the annual Isle of Wight Hedgelaying competition which increases the length and quality of hedgerows around the Island and promotes the craft of hedgelaying.
Solitary Bee Threats
It is often assumed that all bees live in colonies (like Bumble and Honeybees). But actually the majority of British bees, over 200 species, live solitary lives, nesting in walls or holes in the ground. Solitary bees suffer from habitat loss and food scarcity, but their threats are much more individualised, hence the need for specific research, such as the research Gift to Nature funded on the Island’s unique soft cliff habitat.
Solitary bee species are severely disadvantaged by farming practices. In particular the use of neonicotinoid pesticides which damages their life cycle. Infected individuals will forage less and produce less offspring. Solitary bees have complex habitat requirements, they often nest in one area and forage in another making conservation efforts even more difficult.
Bee Research
Gift to Nature will be part-funding a major piece of research into habitat improvements and their impact on Solitary Bees and other key species on the south coast of the Isle of Wight. This will help us direct our conservation efforts, and better understand how to look after our bees. With social bees suffering large scale losses it is important that we understand more about solitary bees so we can protect them effectively, and here on the Isle of Wight we have significant areas of suitable habitat which needs to be managed correctly.
How to help
We are asking people to help in three ways:.
- Plant for Bees. This can be in your lawn (raise the mower level to allow plants to flower) Birdsfoot Trefoil, Self-heal and Red Clover seeds and will grow beautiful flowers which will provide a banquet for bees.
- Give Some Gold. At the Isle of Wight Festival we ask visitors to help fill our hive with gold. We still need more help to meet our targets for this year’s Let it Bee campaign.
