Latest news with #bumblebees
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Experts warn of heatwave stress on wildlife
An environmental expert has warned that the third predicted heatwave across the country will add stress to animals, plans and inspects. Temperatures are set to reach highs of 34C on Friday and possibly Saturday with the sweltering temperatures continuing into early next week. Dr Kevin Collins, a senior lecturer of environment and systems at the Milton Keynes-based Open University, said wildlife felt "stressed by heat that changed their behaviour on a daily basis - they need to seek shade.. and better access to water and food. "Birds, in really hot weather, will fly less, which means they're not accessing food, not hydrating properly, which weakens them and causes disease and mortality." Dr Collins said said some species, like ants, thrived in the warm weather and then became a good food source for woodpeckers. But to help species thrive, he said, "we must make sure we have space and pathways for animals and species to move through so they can find their own niches that suit them." He said bumble bees will fly less and even if they "get to plants, the plants will also be under stress and may not be producing as much nectar, so when the bumble bee arrives its food source may not be available". Food being produced early, due to climate change, could also impact endangered species like dormice, he said, who reply on certain foods like tree nuts and berries to eat in autumn. They would otherwise go into winter in ill health, impacting on the population for the "following years". Matt Jackson, conservation director at the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust, said there were both short and long term impacts of the heat on wildlife. "The short term impacts are we can see things happening so much earlier in the year – things are happening 10 or 15 days earlier than we would have expected even only 20 years ago," he said. "Things like bird breeding, insects emerging, even the flowers emerging in the woodlands are starting to happen a good few weeks earlier than they used to. "We're getting new species moving into the area, coming from the south east." With more animals "out of sync", he added, some birds did not have the right amount of food to feed their young. "We think drought is now the biggest threat to nature reserve management across the country," Mr Jackson said. "It is changing the way our nature reserves work and we're having to try and work out how to adapt to that." He said at the Summer Leys Nature Reserve, in Northamptonshire, glossy ibis and egrets have been seen. "They were something you would go abroad [to see] when I was a kid," he said. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Heatwave to peak this weekend as temperatures soar to 34C Will there be a drought where I live? How unusual is this UK heat and is climate change to blame?
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Experts warn of heatwave stress on wildlife
An environmental expert has warned that the third predicted heatwave across the country will add stress to animals, plans and inspects. Temperatures are set to reach highs of 34C on Friday and possibly Saturday with the sweltering temperatures continuing into early next Kevin Collins, a senior lecturer of environment and systems at the Milton Keynes-based Open University, said wildlife felt "stressed by heat that changed their behaviour on a daily basis - they need to seek shade.. and better access to water and food. "Birds, in really hot weather, will fly less, which means they're not accessing food, not hydrating properly, which weakens them and causes disease and mortality." Dr Collins said said some species, like ants, thrived in the warm weather and then became a good food source for woodpeckers. But to help species thrive, he said, "we must make sure we have space and pathways for animals and species to move through so they can find their own niches that suit them." He said bumble bees will fly less and even if they "get to plants, the plants will also be under stress and may not be producing as much nectar, so when the bumble bee arrives its food source may not be available".Food being produced early, due to climate change, could also impact endangered species like dormice, he said, who reply on certain foods like tree nuts and berries to eat in autumn. They would otherwise go into winter in ill health, impacting on the population for the "following years". Matt Jackson, conservation director at the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust, said there were both short and long term impacts of the heat on wildlife."The short term impacts are we can see things happening so much earlier in the year – things are happening 10 or 15 days earlier than we would have expected even only 20 years ago," he said."Things like bird breeding, insects emerging, even the flowers emerging in the woodlands are starting to happen a good few weeks earlier than they used to. "We're getting new species moving into the area, coming from the south east." With more animals "out of sync", he added, some birds did not have the right amount of food to feed their young. "We think drought is now the biggest threat to nature reserve management across the country," Mr Jackson said."It is changing the way our nature reserves work and we're having to try and work out how to adapt to that."He said at the Summer Leys Nature Reserve, in Northamptonshire, glossy ibis and egrets have been seen."They were something you would go abroad [to see] when I was a kid," he said. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Telegraph
08-07-2025
- General
- Telegraph
10 of the best droughtproof plants
The past few weeks have been a bit of a learning curve, because we've had an extremely dry spring followed by the warmest, driest June since 1976. It's both impossible, and irresponsible, to water the entire garden, so I've concentrated on the containers, the greenhouses and any new additions showing signs of distress. Everything else is taking its chance. My phloxes have flagged, my Veronicastrums look miserably hunched and my monardas aren't going to flower for me this year. However, there are positives too. Certain plants have gloried in the dry heat and they're keeping my garden going. Given that drought and heat are likely to arrive more often, I'll be planting more of the following drought-busters. Eryngiums, or sea hollies The sea hollies have been my star performers and Eryngium x zabelii 'Big Blue' is the best of the lot. The blue-rinsed sea-green elongated thimbles are supported by a ring of feathery bracts in aquamarine and the stiff stems have a steely sheen, so this is an architectural plant with presence. The supporting foliage is jagged and marbled. One plant has produced a hundred or so stems, each topped with a splayed arrangement containing three to five pollinator-friendly flowers. With no rain, the bracts and flowers have kept their metallic sparkle and I've watched several butterflies, including a marbled white, gathering nectar. Hundreds of bumblebees have been drooling over them too. 'Big Blue' is a micro-propagated hybrid, so seedlings don't come true to type. Here, it domineers a pallid-yellow anthemis, 'Sauce Hollandaise', and that's also enjoying the heat. Eryngium bourgatii is self-seedling in nooks and crannies nearby and this one has silvered evergreen foliage. Hylotelephiums, or sedums Sedums have succulent leaves that store water, so once established, they perform brilliantly in dry summers. The darker the foliage, the better for me, because they light up silvery planting. 'José Aubergine', named after Flemish nurseryman José De Buck, smoulders from the off. The aubergine-black foliage and upright stems are topped with domed heads of red-pink flowers that fade to chocolate-brown as autumn descends. I also rate Ernst Pagels's 'Karfunkelstein', which is more smoky rhubarb, and the stately 'Matrona'. The latter produces pigeon-breast foliage that shimmers between pink and grey. None flag, however hot the weather. Hemerocallis, or daylilies These have Asian heritage and they love the warmth and heat, even when it's humid. They are mega-hardy too, so they are grown all over the world. Admittedly, they sometimes sulk in dull summers in my high-altitude garden, but this year they've been worth their weight in gold. There are thousands on offer, but I am going to extol the virtues of two elegant British-bred daylilies from the 1960s, because I'm not keen on the thicker-petalled bicoloured American ones. The readily available lucid-yellow 'Whichford' has a cool hint of green in each flower. 'Red Precious' (sold by Norwell Nurseries) is a later tomato-red, a colour that flatters the mid-green strappy foliage. I like the oranges too: 'Flasher', 'Mauna Loa' and 'Primal Scream' are being framed by a pale-blue catmint and scabious, and they're all basking in the heat. You will need to remove the unsightly spent flowers, but the strappy foliage will march on. Mallows, including malvas and altheas Many years ago, staff at Cambridge's Botanic Garden did a bee count and discovered that Malva moschata was the number-one choice. Mine self-seeds (which I don't mind) and most have a cluster of silky white saucers, softened by a pink style, above highly divided green foliage that avoids transpiration. This is native to southern England, but it's also found in a wide area of Asia and Europe. I also grow the willowy light-pink Althaea armeniaca for its August flowers. Stipa gigantea – the golden oat grass One of the very few tall grasses to perform early in the year, this is indispensable in sunny borders because it produces a multitude of upright stems topped with shimmering golden heads. It loves the heat and I've found it long-lived. Here, it rises to 5ft or more, hovering above an excellent rose for poorer soil, 'Bonica', which was raised in southern France. My ramrod-straight spires of pink chicory (Cichorium intybus f. roseum), their neat daisies held on 45-degree-angled stems, are nearly as tall as the stipa this year. One note of caution though: stipas hate being divided or moved. Origanum, or marjoram Aromatic plants produce their own oily sunscreen and their flowers produce highly concentrated nectar, so they are all butterfly magnets. Origanum laevigatum 'Herrenhausen' has delicate heads of small pink flowers, held in almost purple calices, and they bob above a mat of dark-green foliage. Origanum laevigatum is native to Cyprus, Syria and Turkey, so it's more than capable of taking the heat. Thymes and all origanums are equally good at soaking up the sun in garden hotspots, without wilting. Penstemons These North American plants are bred from species used to being baked in the wild and they come into their own as the days shorten, because they're native to areas close to the equator, where days and nights are evenly balanced. The wine-red ' Andenken an Friedrich Hahn ' has slender trumpets and fine foliage and it's one of the hardiest and showiest, flowering right up until November if deadheaded. 'Sour Grapes', a dusky purple, is almost luminous in the evening light here. 'Blackbird' and 'Czar' are darker options. Go for fully grown plants at this time of year; try Hayloft ( Asters Italian asters, named forms of Aster amellus, have long-lashed petals, so they're perfect for the front of a sunny border. 'Veilchenkönigin', which translates as 'Violet Queen', is the darkest of all. 'King George' is a lighter violet-purple and both are really good AGM (RHS Award of Garden Merit) plants. The best drought-busting aster of all is a vigorous Swiss hybrid from the 1920s, named A x frikartii ' Mönch'. It swoons a little, reaching between 2ft and 3ft, and flowers for at least two months, and the foliage stays looking good too. Phlomis These Mediterranean plants have strong square-sided stems decorated with rounded whorls of lipped flowers. The flowers are adored by bumblebees and, after pollination, good seedheads endure until winter. Hibernating insects find the nooks and crannies very useful over winter. Phlomis italica, the pink-flowered Balearic Island sage, has risen to a metre here and formed a substantial bush of pale, woolly foliage in a sunny well-drained position. This one's fully evergreen, so it can look fabulous in winter light when the leaves appear quilted. The more stately Phlomis russeliana is a spreading herbaceous perennial, with stout stems containing five whorls of pallid-yellow flowers supported by mid-green foliage. This substantial phlomis, found naturally in Syria, Turkey and south-west Asia, needs a bit of space. Scabiosa – the small scabious One of my mainstays is the small scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, which is a chalk or lime grassland plant native to the UK, among other places. It's easily grown from seed and the standard form has pale-blue flowers. There is also a pallid-yellow subspecies named ochroleuca, and both bear small pincushions on very wiry stems, above finely cut foliage. This scabious is totally reliable, performing in good and poor summers. It's universally popular with butterflies and bees and mine forms a delicate edge in front of orange and orange-red hemerocallis and crocosmias. Deadheading will keep it going for weeks and I'd line every path with it if I could.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Researchers provide new hope for at-risk humble bumbles
Have you heard the buzz? May 20 is World Bee Day, celebrating pollinators around globe. While many tend to think first of honey bees, Canada is home to hundreds of native bee species, including the humble bumble. These fuzzy insects, easy to recognize by their round bodies and black and yellow stripes are found in every province and territory of Canada except Nunavut, making them a common sight as spring rolls around. These prolific pollinators are often the first bees out in spring and last to nest in fall. They are an important part of our ecosystem. Unfortunately, bumble bee populations in Canada are at risk, with some species, such as the rusty-patched bumble bee, not seen in Canada since 2009. Enter the bee-ologists at Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC), which is working to help declining bumble bee populations through the Bumble Bee Recovery Project. Taylor Kerekes, lead biologist with the Native Pollinator Initiative at WPC and her team are working on a multi-step program to help Canadian bumbles, including the species of special concern — the yellow-banded bumble bee. 'Our team goes out in the spring and we monitor bumble bee populations in Ontario,' Kerekes explained. 'This is mostly focused around the Guelph-GTA area, and then we also have a team up in Sudbury for more northern surveys.' The researchers are working to determine 'how populations of the yellow banded are doing but also just taking general inventory of all the bumble bees in the area and at our sites.' In addition to observing bee populations, Kerekes said there will be 'a really small number of the yellow banded bumble bees, so we can bring them back to our conservation breeding lab.' Back at WPC's southern Ontario lab, the bees are further studied. 'We take these bees back to our lab. We care for them. We do different things like we mate the bees, we overwinter the bees, and we're hoping that we can build a large enough population in the lab that we can then do releases to those wild sites,' Kerekes said. While the lab-grown bees aren't quite ready for release just yet, the plan to re-establish pollinator populations is vital to preserving ecosystems and food security. According to the United Nations, more than 75% of the world's food crops depend entirely, or in part, on animal populations. While honey bees are typically what people think of when it comes to bees, bumble bees can also help with agricultural pollination. Kerekes noted bumbles particularly love fruit trees, such as apple, which are in blossom right now. Leaving leaf litter on the lawn or garden, or in a pile, over the winter is integral to protecting bumble bees, as queens will nest underground during the cold months. The queens emerge in the spring and will find a place to call home, setting up shop there for the summer. 'I know everyone likes to have immaculate lawns and backyards, but sometimes even just leaving a small portion of your backyard that's a little bit messy, like leaving leaves and debris a little bit is really helpful for them,' she said. Habitat loss Kerekes said the bees are having more difficulty finding places to nest as Canadian cities become larger and areas that were once green spaces become used for other purposes, such as housing and agriculture. 'Urbanization is fragmenting their resources, so they need flowers to obtain pollen and nectar. 'They also need areas to create their nest. As I mentioned, they nest underground. So we need to be able to make sure that they have those areas for nesting resources.' While farmland may seem like the ideal habitat for a bee, with plenty of fruits and veggies flowering, 'bumble bees need multiple sources of different pollens and the different nutrition that comes with those throughout their life cycle. So, just having one plant that's on farmland might not be enough for them. Just having some wildflowers around farms, even in urban areas, has been shown to help with that habitat loss.' No Mow May? Some environmental advocates promote the idea of not mowing the lawn in May, leaving flowers such as dandelions to bloom. But Kerekes insisted this isn't necessary if there are other food sources, such as fruit trees or flowering shrubs available. Digging for savings? Gardening experts advise patience, planning when growing food Clematis: Queen of the garden 'If you're in an area and there is literally nothing else blooming, then I would say it is going to be more helpful to leave the dandelions for the bees rather than that they have nothing. 'If you have a really lovely pollinator garden in your backyard or other things like blooming trees – a lot of our early rising bumble bees forage a lot on trees like apples and shrubs like lilacs. So if you have these other resources, I would say don't worry about mowing dandelions.' While not a native species, lilac shrubs are typically easy to grow and the bumble bees 'are super super keen on the lilacs. That's something that we monitor,' Kerekes explained. As generalist pollinators, bumble bees can be found on different types of flowers, and will often gravitate towards New England Asters and goldenrod, as well as flowering trees, such as pussywillow. The lab at WPC is currently studying nutrients in pollen, which could help with providing more of those species in areas where bees are having trouble finding food. 'In partnership with some of our research partners, we are testing asters and goldenrod in our lab. So, hopefully we find that the pollens nice and nutritious for them.' As research continues at the lab, Kerekes and her team hope to release some of the lab-grown bees within the next five years. For those looking to help bees, WPC runs a Bumble Bee Community Science program, collecting data on bumble bee populations, as well as the Bees on Board program, helping to transport bees to the lab. More information is available here. lnelles@ Twitter: @shantoranelles
