Not leaving outcropped land for Bees will be disastrous for farming experts warn 

Scientists from across the UK have used DNA profiles of worker bees to count the declining number of bumblebee nests on farmland. Their report, published in Insect Conservation and Diversity, warns that unless farmers scale back intensification methods and leave uncropped land for these nests the results on agriculture could be severe.

The team discovered that modern intensive farming techniques, which have led to marked declines in the abundance of wild flowers in the countryside,  has in turn led to worrying declines in wild bumblebee populations. It has long been suspected that habitat availability limits bee abundance in agricultural landscapes but until now there has been little direct evidence for this. Now the team have demonstrated a direct relationship between floral abundance and bumblebee nest density.

“If bee populations fall too low, this could in turn be disastrous for farming which relies upon bees to pollinate many crops such as oilseed rape, beans, apples and raspberries,” said co-author Dr Mairi Knight. “The task for scientists is to find out how best to combine efficient farming with maintaining healthy populations of bumblebees.” 

The team focussed particularly on the common carder bumblebee, Bombus pascuorum, a small brown bumblebee which is important for pollination of many crops. Their study found that the number of bumblebee nests represented by workers at any site could be explained by the amount of non-cropped land (e.g. hedges, rough ground, gardens) within a one kilometre radius. 

These wild habitats provide vital flowers and nest sites for bumblebees. The study also found that mass-flowering crops such as oilseed rape also help to boost the number of bumblebee nests. 

These results have clear implications for the future of agriculture.  The team warn that if framers wish to ensure that their crops get pollinated, they will have to leave sufficient areas of uncropped land for the bees. This would also have knock-on conservation benefits for wildflowers and a host of other animal species such as butterflies and birds.

“There is an urgent need to achieve a balance in modern farming,” concluded Knight. “If intensification goes too far then it is not only harmful to wildlife and the environment but it is also harmful to farming itself, which relies upon ecosystem services such as pollination.”

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