Short-haired bumblebee, Bombus subterraneus, a neat short-coated bumblebee with pale bands

Bombus subterraneus, the short-haired bumblebee. James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

Bombus subterraneus | Reintroduced Bumblebee Long-tongued Subgenus Subterraneobombus

UK Bee Species

Short-haired Bumblebee (Bombus subterraneus)

Bombus subterraneus (Linnaeus, 1758) · subgenus Subterraneobombus

The short-haired bumblebee has one of the most dramatic stories of any British bee. Once common across the flower-rich grasslands of southern England, it vanished as those meadows were ploughed and improved, was last seen at Dungeness in 1988, and was declared extinct in Britain in 2000. Two decades later it became the focus of an ambitious reintroduction, using queens from Sweden. Read its history below, and see where its old strongholds lay on the UK Native Bee Species Map, or set it among the world's bumblebees in the World Bee Atlas.

Quick Facts

Common nameShort-haired bumblebee

Scientific nameBombus subterraneus

AuthorityLinnaeus, 1758

SubgenusSubterraneobombus

FamilyApidae

UK statusExtinct 2000; reintroduced from 2012

Last wild recordDungeness, 1988

TongueLong

Body hairShort, neat and even

HabitatLegume-rich grassland, shingle

Key forageRed clover, bird's-foot-trefoil

Also foundNew Zealand (introduced)

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Class	Insecta
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Apidae
Genus	Bombus
Subgenus	Subterraneobombus
Species	Bombus subterraneus

The bee that went extinct, then came home

The short-haired bumblebee was once a familiar bee of southern England, locally common in some coastal districts of the south-east.^[1] Through the twentieth century it declined catastrophically as flower-rich grasslands were fragmented and improved for farming. The last confirmed British specimens were found at Dungeness in Kent in 1988, and the species was declared extinct in Britain in 2000.^[1] By a quirk of history it survived on the other side of the world, in New Zealand, where British bees had been shipped in the nineteenth century to pollinate red clover.^[1]

Extinct in 2000, home by 2012

A reintroduction project led by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust with Natural England, the RSPB and Hymettus began in 2009. After an early attempt using New Zealand stock failed, around fifty queens from Sweden were released at the RSPB's Dungeness reserve, and the first British-born workers in a generation were recorded the following year.^[3][4]

How to identify the short-haired bumblebee

Its English name is also its best field character: the body hair is notably short, neat and even, without the shaggy look of many bumblebees.^[2] Queens and workers are strikingly similar to the large garden bumblebee in both their banding and their short, tidy coat, which makes the two easy to confuse.^[2] Males have a broad black band between the wing bases and dark bands across the front abdominal segments, and the darkest individuals can be hard to separate from the great yellow bumblebee, a relative in the same subgenus that long ago retreated to the far north of Scotland.^[2]

It is rare in conservation to get a second chance to bring a species back from extinction. The short-haired bumblebee is that second chance.

97%

Britain has lost an estimated 97 per cent of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s. The disappearance of those flower-rich grasslands is the backdrop to the short-haired bumblebee's extinction, and restoring them is central to its return.^[3]

Habitat, forage and lifecycle

This is a bee of open, flowery, legume-rich grasslands and associated habitats such as coastal dunes and vegetated shingle.^[2] Red clover and bird's-foot-trefoils are important pollen sources for queens and workers, while viper's-bugloss is a favoured nectar plant. As a long-tongued bumblebee it is well suited to the deep flowers of the pea family, the same plants that have become scarce in the modern countryside.^[2] Like other bumblebees it nests underground, often in old rodent burrows, with a queen founding a colony in spring that produces workers, then males and new queens later in the season.

Source conflict

The exact cause of the extinction is still debated. Loss and fragmentation of flower-rich grassland is the leading explanation, but some researchers argue that a collapse in genetic diversity in the small, isolated final populations was decisive. The dates are also reported slightly differently between sources, with the last confirmed record at Dungeness in 1988 and the formal declaration of national extinction in 2000.^[1][5]

Why it matters

The short-haired bumblebee has become a flagship for grassland restoration. The flower-rich field margins and meadows created for it across Dungeness and Romney Marsh have boosted many other threatened bumblebees, butterflies and birds at the same time. Its story is a reminder that saving one species often means rebuilding a whole habitat, and that the deep, nectar-rich flowers of the pea family, clovers, trefoils and vetches, are the foundation that long-tongued bumblebees depend on.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I identify a short-haired bumblebee?

Look for a bumblebee with short, neat, even hair rather than a shaggy coat. It is very similar to the large garden bumblebee in pattern. Because it is currently confined to the reintroduction area in Kent and Sussex, location is a major clue; elsewhere a similar bee is far more likely to be another species.

Is the short-haired bumblebee extinct?

It became extinct in Britain in 2000, after the last wild record at Dungeness in 1988. It still survives in parts of mainland Europe and in New Zealand, and since 2012 it has been the subject of a reintroduction in south-east England using Swedish queens.

Why did the short-haired bumblebee disappear from Britain?

The main driver was the loss and fragmentation of flower-rich, legume-rich grassland through farming change. Some researchers also point to a loss of genetic diversity in the last small populations as a contributing factor.

How is it being reintroduced?

A project led by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust with Natural England, the RSPB and Hymettus restored flower-rich habitat around Dungeness and Romney Marsh, then released queens collected from Sweden. British-born workers were recorded for the first time in a generation soon after.

Where does it live now?

Its historic range was southern England, especially coastal districts of the south-east. Today its British presence centres on the reintroduction landscape of Dungeness and Romney Marsh in Kent and East Sussex.

What flowers does it need?

As a long-tongued bee it depends on deep flowers of the pea family, especially red clover and bird's-foot-trefoils for pollen, with viper's-bugloss an important nectar source.

Does the short-haired bumblebee sting?

Queens and workers can sting but are not aggressive and rarely do so away from the nest. Males cannot sting. It is a gentle bumblebee of open grassland.

Does the short-haired bumblebee make honey?

No. Like all bumblebees it stores only small amounts of nectar in the nest to feed the colony, never a harvestable surplus. Only the honeybee makes honey in quantity. Compare the bumblebees and the honeybee in the World Bee Atlas.

Related species

Lookalike

Large Garden Bumblebee

Bombus ruderatusRead more → Same subgenus

Great Yellow Bumblebee

Bombus distinguendusRead more → Long-tongued bee

Garden Bumblebee

Bombus hortorumRead more →

Sources & references

BWARS (Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society). Species account: Bombus subterraneus (Linnaeus, 1758), decline, last records and introduction to New Zealand. bwars.com.
Falk, S. Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland, Bloomsbury, with notes for Bombus subterraneus (short pilosity, similarity to B. ruderatus, habitat and forage). Steven Falk Flickr collection.
Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Short-Haired Bumblebee Project (Dr Nikki Gammans). Reintroduction background, habitat creation and loss of wildflower meadows. bumblebeeconservation.org.
British Ecological Society and RSPB news reports (2012-2013). Release of Swedish queens at RSPB Dungeness and the first recorded British nesting in a generation.
Vaughan-Higgins, R.J., Sainsbury, A.W., Beckmann, K. & Brown, M.J.F. (2016). Disease risk analysis for the reintroduction of the short-haired bumblebee (Bombus subterraneus) to the UK. Natural England Commissioned Report NECR216.

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