Museum collections indicate bees increasingly stressed by changes in climate

Dr Andres Arce working with specimens at the National Museums Scotland. Credit: Ashleigh Whiffin - An analysis of bumblebee wings from a network of UK museums shows signs of stress linked to increasingly hotter and wetter conditions. As well as revealing what is linked to stress in bees in the past, the study can help predict when and where bees will face most stress and potential decline in the future. Bumblebees and other insects are important natural pollinators of crops and of wildflowers, but many groups have faced population declines in recent years. Bumblebees may be in for a rough time over the 21st century. Dr Richard Gill - The research, by scientists from Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum, London, analysed the morphology (body shapes) of bee specimens dating back to 1900. Using digital images, the group first investigated the asymmetry in bumblebee wings as an indicator of stress.