The bumblebees and the flowering cabbage

Life is buzzing on the cabbage

Of the many gorgeous herbaceous plants and flowering fruit trees, the buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) in our garden chose the blooming cabbage (Brassica oleracea) as their favourite nectar and pollen source this spring. Cabbage is a cross-pollinated crop, which means it is not capable of self-fertilisation, thus pollination via insects is one of the best …

Fieldwork

Environmental impacts on bumblebees’ behaviour

Background In recent decades, the populations of pollinators have been declining worldwide. This is increased by anthropogenic background factors such as agrochemical pollution, degradation of natural habitats, noise, dust and heavy metal loads from roads. Anthropogenic noise is a type of pollution that has so far been little studied, but it has been proven to …