9 July 2024
The Trust’s citizen science scheme BeeWalk received its millionth bee sighting, a Tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum), spotted near Glossop, Derbyshire, in late June.
The BeeWalk scheme provides key information on how Britain’s bumblebees are doing. Volunteers walk a fixed route each month and count the bumblebees they see (and, optionally, other bee species).
Bumblebees are an essential and iconic part of the countryside, responsible for pollinating our crops and wildflowers, and ensuring the food we need can grow and be harvested. 75% of the crops that we grow and eat in Britain are reliant on bumblebees and other wild pollinators.
Dr Richard Comont, Science Manager at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and head of the BeeWalk recording scheme since 2013, said, “It’s astonishing to see the millionth record arrive, and all thanks to the hundreds of amazing volunteers who walk the countryside counting bees for us. Thanks to their efforts we have a dataset which lets us see, almost in real time, what’s happening to bumblebee populations nationwide and provides a fantastic resource for guiding our conservation work.”
Dr Comont added, “It’s lovely to see that the millionth individual was a Tree bumblebee as this species is one of the few species doing well nationwide – a great success story.”
The BeeWalk dataset has grown into one of the largest bumblebee datasets in the world. BeeWalk data is a both a source of information for understanding how Britain’s bumblebees are doing, and critical for taking decisions on how we can best help bumblebees to survive and thrive.
BeeWalk data shows that last year, 2023, was a year of contrasts for our bumblebees, with spring seeing a poor start for many bees (and other invertebrates). Consequently, spring specialists such as the Early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) and Tree bumblebee fell well below expected numbers, some recording their worst annual populations since records began. Part of this may have been the impact of the 2022 heatwave, although the poor spring weather could also have played a role.
Bumblebee numbers bounced back following a hot June and warm, damp summer, with many species reaching normal levels and some reaching record-high July numbers. Contrasting to the spring species, late-peaking bumblebees such as the Common carder bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum) and the rarer Brown-banded carder bumblebee (Bombus humilis) had a great year in the end, taking advantage of the mild summer.
Early analysis of the spring 2024 BeeWalk data shows a lot of variation. Generally, the wet weather has slowed colony development. Though there were average to good numbers of queens emerging from hibernation, numbers for many species are now lower than normal as workers are slow to appear. However, the Early bumblebee appears to be doing very well.
BeeWalk data has received over 21 million record downloads through the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Atlas, and 1.03 billion record downloads through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).
Dr Amy Plowman, Head of Conservation and Science at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust said, “We have known for many years that some bumblebees have declined over the long term, but BeeWalk data focuses on counting individual bees. This gives us a more detailed understanding of how populations are changing now, letting us see things like the impact of conservation work, and provides warning of population declines before they turn into local extinctions”.
BeeWalk is funded by members and supporters of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, including specific financial contributions from the Redwing Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and Garfield Weston Foundation.
Our BeeWalk 2024 Report with all the results from 2023 is now available.
