National Trust bee and butterfly survey.

[Yale]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38447937

Anyone else think they are clutching at straws.

NT blame the weather when we have had less extremes in reality.

Maybe they could include environmental bodies like themselves interfering with habitat causing a decline in species.

 

[llamedos]

Well, up here there is no habitat decline involved, but I am definitely noticing a huge decline in both bumble bees and wasps.
The only increase I have noticed has been in mining or burrowing bees.
Good early weather in April, followed by some hard frosts and then incessant rain must have some bearing.

 

[RobFZS]

Making it up as they go along, so now it's the weather, last week it was the removal of hedgerows and intensive farming practices , maybe next they'll work out the increased population/ traffic has squeezed everything else out,

 

[Barleycorn]

Bumble bees decline nothing to do with badgers then? Thought not!

 

[jerseycowsman]

Bumble bees decline nothing to do with badgers then? Thought not!

Or neonics either, I think people will stop listening to the boy who calls wolf too often!
I hope the general population is getting bored of this blame game from the environmental NGOs

 

[Pasty]

I had a very small field which went to thistle this year. A 'mistake' I guess and I was told off for it but the amount of butterflies was incredible. It was a joy to watch. No idea what species but they were loving it. Everything we do has an impact on something, good or bad. Everything we do.

 

[Princess Pooper]

Bumble bees decline nothing to do with badgers then? Thought not!

:Lots of bumble bees here despite the lots of badgers. More likely to do with our extended hedge trimming regime giving lots of blossom, plus hay meadows and, as noted elsewhere lots of (shhh) undesirables such as thistles

 

[Kidds]

I had a very small field which went to thistle this year. A 'mistake' I guess and I was told off for it but the amount of butterflies was incredible. It was a joy to watch. No idea what species but they were loving it. Everything we do has an impact on something, good or bad. Everything we do.

One year we had what can only be described as clouds of Painted Lady butterflies on a patch of thistles that flowered.

 

[yellow belly]

Weather is the biggest factor
Bee farmer on my farm produced 4 tonnes of honey this year compared with 12 tonnes in 2015
In 2012 his production was only one tonne

This year no honey was produced from osr due to the cold spring and low hector

If we want to surport hector loving insects then we need to subsidise nector producing crops that flower in may spring beans spring rape borage

When spraying beans there is no shortage bumble bees

 

[Princess Pooper]

Amazing isn't it, a report that DOESN'T lay all the blame on farmers and it still gets it in the neck. When they do blame the farmers, the farmers say 'what about the weather?'

 

[David.]

Interesting perspective on Weatherweb from @Simon Keeling.
Not proper for me to link, but Simon might share it...

 

[Campani]

They have been talking about the effect of climate change will have on biodiversity since I can remember. Mild winters are going to mess up the life cycles of many species.

 

[Simon Keeling]

I've got a musing being published about this (free to everyone) on Thursday morning at www.Weatherweb.net

Also I've had a bit of a rant about it in todays Look Ahead video, again at www.Weatherweb.net

Pseudo science which the public then believe because it's come from an organisation they trust.

So, so annoying!!!!

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

In our area there is absolutely no doubt that the ground nesting Bumble bees have been all but eradicated by Badgers who dig out all of their nests. We do still have species that nest in barns and off the ground luckily.
The ground nesting wasps have also been virtually wiped out, but they have adapted relatively quickly and now live in roof spaces and in stacks of straw and hay or even in hedges.

Butterflies are much more dependent on weather and flowers, as already mentioned on here it has been a poor year for flowers that provide nectar. We try to have plants that give a consistent supply of nectar but it has not been easy.

We have had very different weather lately, but I wouldn't call it climate change!! At the moment we are extremely dry as we have had no significant rain since June.

 

[Yale]

Amazing isn't it, a report that DOESN'T lay all the blame on farmers and it still gets it in the neck. When they do blame the farmers, the farmers say 'what about the weather?'

However they do their best to loosely imply that farmers could be involved in a detrimental way.

They could have reported that despite farmers introducing wildlife friendly management numbers are still down so it must be down to predators breeding in unchecked numbers.

 

[Timbo1080]

.....Farmers and conservationists should work together.....

I had no idea that the two groups were mutually exclusive. Personally, I consider myself as both a farmer and conservationist, and I work together very well....I must be way ahead of the times.

 

[Princess Pooper]

Interesting... cut out of the intro for a PhD with GCWT...

Recent NERC-funded research at Sussex carried out on farms in S England has shown that current flower strips sown under agri-environment prescriptions boost populations of some common bumblebee species but provide negligible benefit for the many other bee species that live in farmland. This should not be surprising for the seed mixes sown largely comprise species chosen for their high value to bumblebees; notably Fabaceae (clovers & trefoils). However, this should be of concern if we wish to maintain high biodiversity & a rich pollinator community, for the overwhelming bulk of bee diversity comprises solitary species, most of which scarcely ever visit Fabaceae. Our PhD student Tom Wood has shown that the large majority of flower visits by most solitary bees are not to the flowers sown in margins, but are instead to a range of ruderal & hedgerow plants. These plants can broadly be divided into woody hedgerow plants (e.g. Rubus, Rhamnus, Cornus, Crataegus), and ruderals found in field margins and waste places (e.g. Tripleurospermum inodorum, Raphanus raphanistrum, Chaerophyllum temulum). At present there are no prescriptions targeted at benefitting these species, and no clear knowledge as to how best to do so. There is also a potential conflict in that some of the latter group are minor weeds, and farmers may be reluctant to encourage them