Wildlife

Wild Native Bee Conservation and Welfare

Over 270 native bee species in Britain face habitat loss, pesticides, and disease threats.

Key Facts

Britain has 270 bee species including 24 bumblebee and 200+ solitary bee species
Bumblebee populations have declined by over 60% since the 1970s
2 UK bumblebee species have become extinct since the 1950s
Native bees are more effective crop pollinators than honeybees for many plant species

Welfare Considerations

Native bees unable to find adequate food resources as floral diversity collapses from agricultural intensification face nutritional stress and reproductive failure. Each bee colony that fails due to inadequate forage represents the death of thousands of individual insects. Whether bees experience something like suffering is debated, but the scale of their decline and the individual-level consequences of habitat loss warrant serious moral attention.

What You Can Do

Plant native wildflowers in your garden and leave areas wild
Avoid all pesticide use in gardens and advocate for agricultural pesticide reform
Create solitary bee nesting habitat with bare soil and hollow stems
Support Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Buglife