Who are YouGov?

A couple of years ago I did some bird watching at the RSPB in Sandy and an instructor pointed out the various types of bird we came across.
She described one as a 'LBJ' which apparently is the description used for the numerous small birds that are difficult to tell apart -  a 'Little Brown Job'.

There is quite a lot of coverage of 'bees' in the press and yet I have long thought that people can't tell the difference between the main types of bee. There are about 250 types of bee in the UK only one of which is a honey bee. There are 26 types of bumble bee and I have always thought these are very easy to identify from their size and shape. The other bees are Solitary Bees that are different shapes and colours.
There are a lot of LBJs [Little Bee Jobs].

Recently YouGov carried out a survey on behalf of Friends of The Earth about bees and one of the questions was to identify a honey bee from four photographs.

I have taken the questions to the markets I do and when I say two-thirds of the votes were wrong people are surprised.


Part of the reason for this I think lies with The Great British Press.
Today the Daily Mail, admittedly the journalistic equivalent of a landfill, published this.

An interesting if not exactly earth shattering article about bumblebees pollinating abilities.
You may not be aware that all journalists are required to comply with the Wild Life Reporting [Miscellaneous Requirements] Regulations by including at least one silly pun in any article about bees and the  DM complies with a fantastically original example.
I am awaiting corrective surgery on my sides that have split.

In the article, about bumble bees remember, comes this, a nice colour picture.

That's not as Bumblebee.
That's not a honey bee.
It's a tawny solitary bee.

Unfortunately this sort of thing happens all the time; the Express produced this article about honey bees.

I have no idea what its supposed to be.

The Western Daily Press produced this.

An article about honey production with a picture of a bumblebee.

And its not just the lower end newspapers that get it wrong.
This appeared to be in a scientific journal.

Article about bumblebees with a picture of a honey bee.
Oh dear.