Natural History Wanderings

BBC Nature  reported on spotting of a rare bee, the Shrill Carder Bumblebees. The Shrill Carder is one of the UK’s most threatened bumblebees. It has recently been found in south-eastern London by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust at the Crossness sewage work in Thamesmead. The trust is consulting with Thames Water to sow yellow rattle to help the bumblebee. This is the first sighting in London in ten years. There are now only six or seven populations in England and Wales. The shrinking population has resulted in increasing infertility in males as a result of inbreeding. It is the most rare bumblebee species in the U.K.