Environment

Bumblebee conservation led by Toby the sniffer dog

by Paul Conneally | August 29, 2008 at 10:29 pm

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We are used now to stories of about the decline oof the honey bee but the wild bumblebee is too reaching crisis point in terms of decline in numbers and as this doesn't at first sight have the commercial implications that a decline in the domesticated honey bee does it is truly an environmental worry. Here we see how the skills of a sniffer dog are being used to detect the nests of bumblebees so that some real research can take place to perhaps save the humble bumble.

Those interested in finding more out about Bumblebee conservation might find this site of interest - the Bumblebee Conservation Trust who first used sniffer dogs back in 2006 when Quin hit the headlines.

In the long grass near the edge of a small loch, Toby the springer spaniel is hard at work. Harness on, head down, he zigzags through the undergrowth until something stops him in his tracks. He puts his nose to the ground, tail flicking frantically. Before him, hidden in the vegetation, is a remnant of a bumblebees' nest.

Toby is the latest weapon in an effort to try to understand what is happening to Britain's bumblebees. He is the world's first bee-sniffing dog, trained by the army, and based at Stirling University, where researchers have a £112,000 grant to study the bees' decline.

Like honeybees, the British bumblebee is under threat. There used to be 25 different species of bumblebee in the UK. Three are extinct and up to seven more are close to extinction. Habitat loss is the biggest threat. Intensive farming means fewer areas where the bees can flourish, such as hay meadows and clover leys.