Big Bumblebee Hunt
Bumblebees are vital for pollinating our wildflowers and crops such as apples and raspberries. Unfortunately these popular and hard-working insects are in decline and urgent action is required to save them. The Big Bumblebee Hunt gave people the chance to get involved during summer 2007.
Bumblebees have undergone a rapid decline in its range and population. There are 25 species native to the UK, but three are now extinct and six species have declined by at least 80% in recent decades. This is largely due to changes in our countryside, and the loss of habitat and fragmentation from intensive agricultural farming.
In other places, such as the south east, local populations of the rarer bumblebees are being threatened by the loss of valuable flower-rich "brownfield" sites for housing and retail development.
The survey is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took part in the Big Bumblebee Hunt in 2007. We hope that with funding we will be able to launch a National Garden Bumblebee Survey in the near future.
Use the links below to find out more about this year's survey and its results:
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This project has been jointly funded by: Countdown 2010/Natural England, Cory Environmental Trust (Essex), City Bridge Trust (London), Anglian Water, Cecil Pilkington Charitable Trust, Antony & Noreen Daniel Charitable Trust and AS Butler Charitable Trust.
