What’s The Buzz? Conservationists Reintroduce Short-Haired Bumblebees to UK
Short-haired Bumblebee pollinated red clover (Photo: Nikki Gammans)
A bumblebee figures in our Geo Quiz.
The Bombus Subterraneus or the Short-Haired Bumblebee.
It died out in Britain 25 years ago or so.
One of the nails in this bee’s tiny coffin was the loss of wildflower meadows due to intensive farming in southern England.
Conservationists came up with a rescue plan to re-introduce the bee species.
But it involves going outside Britain to find healthy short-haired queen bumblebee specimens to bring back to the UK.
They targeted a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula.
So we’re hoping you can you name this “bumblebee friendly” province at the southern-most tip of the Scandinavian peninsula?
The answer is Skåne or Scania, the southernmost province of Sweden.
It’s a place where wildflower meadows are everywhere and it has plenty of these little pollinators flying around. Nicky Gammons is in charge of reintroducing the short -haired bumblebee to the UK. She tells The World how and why conservationists are attempting to bring back this species of bee.
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