Sponsor a Great Yellow bumblebee

Aim

Join our buzzing community of fundraisers to help save one of the UK's rarest bumblebee species, the Great Yellow bumblebee.

Help save one of the UK's rarest bumblebees

The Great Yellow bumblebee is a bee-utiful, golden coloured bee that is teetering on the brink of extinction. Only 50 years ago this fluffy, winged ‘teddy bear’ could be found as far south as Cornwall but today, it can only be found on the coast of northern Scotland, Orkney Islands and the Hebrides.

With its striking yellow and black markings, this rare bumblebee now depends on wildflower-rich coastal habitats, known as machair in Scotland, to survive. But habitat loss and fragmentation are pushing it closer to the edge. 

With your help, we can give the Great Yellow bumblebee the chance not only to survive but thrive.

Creating the Framework for Recovery.

Over the last 10 years, we have been mapping where this bumblebee can still be found, working to preserve and expand its habitat to protect these small populations. Now, we urgently need to understand how and why, in just over a generation, it has almost completely disappeared from our shores.

We urgently need your help to save this rare bumblebee.

By sponsoring a Great Yellow bumblebee, you’ll be supporting our work to increase our understanding of the needs of this bumblebee to guide the implementation of our conservation work

Alasdair Allan, MSP, Nature Champion for the Great Yellow Bumblebee says:
“As Nature Champion for the Great Yellow bumblebee, I support all efforts to understand the needs of and secure the survival of this charismatic species. A full recovery review will help Bumblebee Conservation Trust and its partners to achieve this. Please donate what you can for Scotland’s rarest bumblebee.”

The Great Yellow bumblebee is at risk of extinction. Together, we can secure their future. 

Your donation is a lifeline - for them, for our ecosystems, and for future generations who deserve to experience a wild and vibrant world.

We’re their last chance. You’re their best hope.

Thank you!

Photo credit: Pieter Haringsma

This project successfully funded on 30th September 2025