Bees are attracted to the flowers in a garden

Although many people fear bumblebees and would probably prefer them not to live in their gardens, this is in fact good news as previous studies had found that bumblebee numbers are declining in Western Europe, Asia and North America.

The study, involving genetic analysis and modelling, looked at DNA samples from two species so as to create a picture of nest density and how land use affects the creatures.

The findings, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, found that gardens provide a stronghold for bumblebees in an ‘otherwise impoverished agricultural environment’.

Professor Dave Goulson, who led the study, said, ‘We’ve always suspected that gardens were good for bumblebees, but in some ways it is quite disturbing because while it is good news for gardeners, the flip side is that farmland is pretty rubbish for bumblebees these days.’

He added, ‘Bumblebees and other bees are the main pollinators of lots of wild flowers and quite a lot of our crops - the fruit and veg that people buy from a supermarket would not be there is it were not for bumblebees.’

Professor Goulson advised that, to bring more bumblebees to farmland, farmers could do a crop rotation of clover, as this is a favourite of bumblebees so would draw them in.

By Lauren King