Did you know that the UK has 24 species of bumblebees? They represent ten percent of all the bumblebees in the world. Scotland is currently home to 19 species.
Unfortunately, the number of species and actual bumblebees have declined significantly over the past few years.
The main cause of the decline is the loss of natural habitats as they depend on nectar and pollen as their exclusive food sources. The following are a few reasons why bumblebees are important in the ecosystem.
Quick Navigation
Pollination
Since flowers come in various sizes and shapes, the ecosystem needs a variety of pollinators. Both open and closed pollinators are adapted to specific pollinators.
Open flowers, for example, can be accessed by various pollinators including solitary bees and honeybees. Field beans, on the other hand, attract long-tongued pollinators like Garden bumblebees.
Bumblebees come in various species and they promote pollinator diversity. They ensure that a wider variety of plant species are pollinated and can stabilize pollination during extreme weather conditions.
All the 24 different UK species of bumblebees continue to forage even when the weather conditions are adverse.
Some of the plants that bumblebees pollinate to produce fruit include peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, and cranberries. The following factors make bumblebees great pollinators:
- They have lots of branched hair making them perfect for picking up and transferring pollen
- They can fly at lower temperatures than other bees. They have been reported to fly at temperatures below zero
- Most bumblebees have longer tongues than honeybees. They are, therefore, perfect for pollinating flowers with long and narrow corollas
You Can Move Them
Perennial colonies of bumblebees can be moved to the areas where they are needed. The bees communicate the distance and direction from their nectar sources and hive.
Farmers can move them to pollinate wildflowers, crops, or fruits. Even though solitary bees can be moved for pollination as well, they have shorter flight seasons and may not be as effective as bumblebees.
Glasshouse Pollination
Bumblebees can be reared for glasshouse pollination. Bumblebee colonies started being commercially produced for glasshouses in the 1980s.
Honey bees are not great for buzz pollination and their hives would have been too big. Tomatoes require buzz pollination.
Their anthers do not release pollen until they are vibrated at about 400Hz. Bumblebees can achieve this by holding on to the anthers. They vibrate their flight muscles without having to move their wings.
In the past, artificial buzzers were used to pollinate the plants in glass houses. However, having to carry around buzzers by hand can be a huge inconvenience.
Now, almost all tomatoes produced in Europe are pollinated by bumblebees. They are also used to pollinate kiwi fruits, strawberries, cranberries, sweet peppers, blueberries, and aubergines.
Almost a quarter of a million colonies are artificially reared annually and used in more than 30 countries. The economic importance of bumblebees in glasshouse cultivation cannot be ignored.
Minimizing World Hunger
Bumblebees pollinate food sources in different parts of the world. IN North America, for example, about 3 percent of the food that people consume is from plants that were pollinated by bees. As of 2020, insect-pollinated crops were estimated to be worth $20 billion.
In south China, the population of bees is scarce and certain places depend on hand-pollination devices for apples, pears, and other crops.
About 84 percent of the plant species in Europe need insect pollination. Honey bees pollinate a third of crops in the UK leaving two-thirds to hoverflies, bumblebees, and solitary bees.
Honey bees only pollinate three percent of wildflowers leaving the remaining percentage to solitary bees, bumblebees, and hoverflies.
Bumblebees are the primary pollinators of the following plants:
- Peas
- Runner beans
- Tomatoes
- Cotton
- Sunflowers
- Strawberries
- Alfalfa
- Red clover
- Raspberries
- Currants
- Oilseed rape
According to research conducted by Charles Darwin, red clovers that grow without being visited by bees do not produce any seeds.
Those that are visited by bees, on the other hand, can produce an average of 2700 seeds. The crop is a valuable source of food for grass-feeding animals including cows and sheep. It is a great natural fertilizer as well.
Bumblebees are the main pollinators of orchards in Norway and other Scandinavian countries because of their ability to pollinate in low temperatures. They forage 24 hours in the long summer days.
Flowers do not need nectar to be pollinated by bumblebees. Unlike honeybees, they can pollinate all sorts of flowers. Because of their size and hairiness, bumblebees can pollinate even the most difficult flowers.
These bees easily get nectar from the bottom of closed flowers. They carry a lot of pollen and can easily pollinate flowers as they try to get nectar.
Biodiversity
As pollinators, bumblebees have a major role to play in all aspects of the ecosystem. They promote the growth of plants, trees, and flowers.
They are not only valuable food sources but also a shelter for birds, insects, and other creatures. Bumblebees contribute to the complex ecosystems that allow various species to co-exist and thrive.
Without bumblebees, many creatures will be homeless and many crops may fail to grow.
In conclusion, the world requires a lot more than just sunshine, water, and soil to remain green. At least 90 percent of all plants and 30 percent of crops need cross-pollination to thrive.
While there are a few pollinators in the world, bumblebees are some of the most important ones. Even though bee populations may be declining, they still have a significant role to play.
Because of climate changes, flowers are now blooming earlier or later than usual. As a result, bees do not get sufficient food at the beginning of the season.
Other causes of their decline include insufficient bee-friendly flowers, lost habitats, and abandoned farms. Entire colonies can collapse after exposure to harmful parasites and pesticides.
Fortunately, there are many different ways to protect the bumblebees. One of the best options is planting bee-friendly gardens that yield healthy plants for them to pollinate.
Such plants will ensure that bumblebees continue playing their role in the ecosystem.