Bumblebee to return to UK

Plans are afoot to repopulate the British countryside with a native species of bee that died out nearly a decade ago.

The short-haired bumblebee officially went extinct in the UK in 2000.

However, a small population of the bumblebee survives in New Zealand.

Conservation groups plan to bring short-haired bumblebees across to the UK from New Zealand in an effort to repopulate the British Isles with the species.

If their plans prove successful, it will be the first time a bee species has been reintroduced to a country after the indigenous population died out.

“It’s going to be difficult, but this might be our last chance,” said Ben Davill, director of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Bumblebee and honeybee populations have declined dramatically in the UK in recent years due to a loss of habitat caused by intensive agriculture.

Short-haired bumblebees were shipped to New Zealand in 1875 to pollinate red clover plants in the country.

The move to reintroduce them to the UK has been made possible by discovering the bees’ preferred diet.

Nikki Gammans, project officer for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, said: “The short-haired bumblebee is a very fussy eater.

“It needs fresh pollen every day, and not just any old pollen.

“It needs high quality pollen that has been collected by other bumblebees.”

Colonies of the short-haired bumblebee will be bred in New Zealand this winter, before being brought back to the UK in the spring.