‘What’s that bumblebee’ app creates a buzz

IT’S a question that’s vexed wildlife watchers and the parents of inquisitive kids for generations – “What’s that bumblebee?”

Now, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust has launched an app for mobile phones and tablet computers to help answer that very query.

A guide to the eight most-common UK bumblebees – buff-tailed, common carder, early, garden, heath, red-tailed, tree and white-tailed – will guide users through identification, while the app will also help to take photographs of the bees.

The app also has an “augmented reality” feature, which makes a picture of a bee appear on screen, as if it’s flying around the user’s room or garden.

Gill Perkins, chief executive of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, said: “We’ve received lots of enquiries from people who’ve had more time to notice bumblebees because of the lockdown and want to find out more, and this app is a great way of doing that.

“Kids and adults will love seeing a virtual bumblebee in their front room or outdoor space, and being able to capture a photo of it to study – while also being able to go out on their own local mini-safaris to discover our ‘Big 8’ bumblebees in real life.”

Read more stories about animals on Scottish Field’s wildlife pages.