Scotland will save Great Yellow Bumblebee

Conservation groups in Scotland on Wednesday announced project to save the Great Yellow Bumblebee.

The insect was once widespread in Britain, but loss of habitat has reduced its range in the United Kingdom to a few areas of Scotland and outlying islands.

"The continued survival of this bee in the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and North of Scotland is a tribute to the benefits of the less intensive, wildlife-friendly land management that still occurs in these places," said David Beaumont, senior ecologist with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Scotland.

The main goal of the three-year 300,000-pound (Ђ445,000 US$540,000) program is to preserve suitable habitat by creating and maintaining flower-rich grasslands and flower-rich arable cover crops.