🐝 NHM Bees 🐝

The data from this @NERCscience funded digitisation project is the result of three years of work from @richjgill, Ian Barnes, @SelBrace, @grazing_gazelle, @victoriaemullin and @jeffollerton 🐝

Data from over 6700 bumblebee specimens have now been released on the Data Portal! We've been digitising UK bumblebee specimens from the collection like this Bombus ruderatus specimen, the largest bumblebee species in the UK #WorldBeeDay 🐝

Well done to @CityCommons great work turning these old neglected overgrown areas, back to glorious chalk grassland meadows. Counted over 50 rare man orchids tonight @wildflower_hour @BSBIbotany @ukorchids

Want to know your Bugs from your Beetles? Or your Flies from your Bees (and other Hymenoptera)? Well hot off the virtual press, we have just launched our new Guide to Common Terrestrial Invertebrate Groups over on the website: nhm.ac.uk/take-part/iden… @NHM_London @NHM_Science

For those who missed it, here is a link to the presentations from the recent online European Bumblebee Conference. Well worth a watch to listen to up to date research on bumblebees: bestuivers.nl/hommelsymposium

Now is a great time to join the Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme and help us track changes. More volunteers are needed. Find out more here: pollinators.ie/record-pollina… @BioDataCentre

Today on #Metamorphosis I’m discussing the mouthparts of moths - how Darwin’s love of Orchids led him to predict the existence of this moth many moons before it was actually discovered...#moths. Tune in at 1:45pm @BBCRadio4 (mouthparts @sueperkins 👍)

#LinneanAtBH one of the most important herbariums in the world is @LinneanSociety , part of the complex of scientific societies at #BurlingtonHouse #London that is at risk of being forced out of where it has operated from for 145 years. Find out more at: linnean.org/the-society/sa…

China has the richest bumblebee diversity in the world, here is just a small portion of our 2020 collections. In contrast to their stunning coloration, their biology and threat status have yet to be studied.

The #GreatYellowBumblebee is flying into the news today after our Conservation Officer Katy Malone discovered a Great Yellow bumblebee nest last summer for the first time. Katy said 'This was a once in a lifetime moment and a first to capture on video' @ScottishPower 👇 #RareBee

Atlas of the Bees, Wasps & Ants of Kent (2nd edition) now available. Written by the brilliant Geoff Allen and published by the Kent Field Club.

For those interested in bumblebees click this link to sign up to the online Bumblebee Conference (20th & 27th Feb). A great chance to hear about current research on all aspects of bumblebee biology! bestuivers.nl/hommelsymposium

Worldwide occurrence records suggest a global decline in bee species r... sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

What limits #bumblebee populations on farmland? 🐝Our new paper in @JAppliedEcology finds that bumblebee colony density is strongly limited by a late summer nectar gap and the cover of rural gardens🌼Read more here: doi.org/10.1111/1365-2… and and in the thread below...

Big announcement: We are looking for a CEO. This is an exciting challenge for someone with excellent communication skills and proven track-record of highly effective, strategic and inspiring leadership. Please can you share this far and wide? More here: bit.ly/1WBvs6C

We can't wait for #NaturalHistoryMuseum: World of Wonder on @channel5_tv tonight, where @flygirlNHM will be imaging some of our enormous collection of fleas! Read her post on our blog about why digitising our Siphonaptera collections is so important: naturalhistorymuseum.blog/2017/02/16/fle…

Museum scientists were very busy in 2020, describing 503 species new to science, including 70 new species of wasp! One of these is Apophysius pentaceratops, pictured here. See the holotype record and more images on our Data Portal: data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/collec…

And so it begins... Neonicotinoids are lethal pesticides which the EU banned for good reason @SoilAssociation⁩ ⁦@WildlifeTrusts⁩ ⁦@friends_earth⁩ ⁦@GreenpeaceUK⁩ independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…

Photo from Edward Step’s “Bee, Wasps, Ants & Allied Insects of the British Isles”, published in 1932. Note Bombus terrestris is called the “Buff-tailed Humble-bee”. Humblebee and Bumblebee have been used for hundreds of years but since WW2 Bumblebee has become the common name.