A second international effort to reintroduce the rare short-haired bumblebee to Kent is underway after the first one ended in disaster.
The first time round, scientists bred several queen bees in New Zealand in the hope of shipping them back to Dungeness. But they all sadly died.
Now a second operation to bring specially bred female bees in to the UK is underway – this time a little closer to home, from Sweden.
The species was last recorded at Dungeness in 1988, but the experts are confident this latest attempt at bringing them back will go well without any sting in the tail.
The team of scientists have already set off for Sweden on their mission to collect around 50 short-haired bumblebee queens.
They became extinct in the UK after suffering declines following a loss of wildflower rich habitat.
But they are doing well in Sweden and conservationists are now ready to begin the delicate work of transferring a small number of the queen bees to Kent.
The queens are being collected from the province of Skane, on the southern tip of Sweden, using bee nets before being transferred into glass vials and placed in refrigeration to induce a temporary hibernation.
After a boat trip to Britain they will go in to quarantine at Royal Holloway University of London to ensure they are free from diseases or parasites that could affect native wildlife. Assuming all is well they are expected to be released within weeks.
Project manager Dr Nikki Gammans said: “It’s a delicate operation, which we’ve been meticulously planning with our colleagues in Sweden for over a year. The queen bees will be emerging after the winter in hibernation and will be well fed before beginning the journey home. We’ve been collecting pollen from the sites in Kent to feed them while they are in quarantine and they will be released at the end of May.”
All the time this is going on, final preparations are underway at the RSPB’s Dungeness reserve and farmland across Romney Marsh to create the ideal conditions for the bees to flourish.
Over the past three years Natural England and the RSPB worked with Dungeness farmers to prepare flowering field margins to give the Swedish bees the best possible start and encourage other wildlife across the peninsula.
More than 650 hectares of new suitable habitat has been created.
RSPB Dungeness warden Natalie Holt said: “We’ve lost 97 per cent of our wildflower meadows in the past 60 years and this has had a devastating impact on our precious native bumblebees.
“We’ve done a lot of work to prepare for this day by establishing good wild flower habitat, rich in pollen and nectar which will provide a healthy, vibrant habitat for a whole range of insects, wild plants, birds and other animals as well as the short-haired bumblebee.
“We’ve already seen a number of rare bee species spreading locally including the shrill carder bee which has returned to RSPB Dungeness nature reserve after a 25 year absence. This shows how successful conservation work really makes a difference in bringing life back to back to our countryside.”
The previous elaborate project failed when the entire stock died in New Zealand during hibernation. The RSPB said at the time: “A small number were due to be released on the June 11, 2010, but sadly they did not survive hibernation in New Zealand.”
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