Bumble Bees

There are approximately 49 types of bumble bees (bombus sp.) living in the United States and approximately 250 varieties worldwide.

Before the introduction of the familiar honey bee (Genus Apis), to North America, native bumble bees were hard at work pollinating much of the continent's indigenous plant species.
Recently, like the honey bee, native bumble bees are facing serious trouble. In the United States the Yellow Bumble Bee (Bombus fervidus), the Western Bumble Bee (Bombus occidentalis), the Rusty-patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis) and the Yellow-banded Bumble Bee (Bombus terricola) are all species in the midst of severe decline. Some bumble bees in the US, like Franklin's Bumble Bee (Bombus franklini), are now believed extinct.

The reasons for bumble bee population decline and extinction are many including: spread of pests and diseases through commercial bumble bee rearing and transportation, habitat destruction or alteration, pesticide use, invasive species, and climate change.

The decline and extinction of native bumble bees is grave news on several fronts. First, the knowledge that these species are declining or going extinct is part of the larger phenomenon of the current biodiversity crisis and holocene extinction. Second, bumble bees are more efficient pollinators than honey bees when it comes to many important commercial crops including tomatoes, cranberries, raspberries, blueberries and field beans. Bumble bee pollination accounts for at least 15% of all commercial crop pollination valued at 3 billion dollars. Beyond commercial crops, bumble bees are vital pollinators of many wild plants like nuts, berries and trees an wild animals like bear and elk depend on these plants for survival.

Only certain bumble bees are equipped with long tongues that enable them to gather nectar and pollinate certain varieties of wildflowers such as monkshood, foxgloves, and lousewort.

Unlike honey bees, certain bumble bees emerge early after winter pollinating in the cooler spring months and traveling as far as 20km to reach foraging sites. Without bumble bees many early blooming wild plant species would not survive.

There are some important ways that people can help bumble bees survive.

One contributing factor in the decline and extinction of bumble bees is habitat loss and subsequent loss of suitable sites for building their nests. One way people can help would be to build a simple bumble bee nesting box. A list of links can be found below where you can find detailed instructions on how to build bumble bee boxes, or where one can be purchased.

Another way people can help bumble bees is by creating bumble bee gardens in their yards or community. Such gardens should include an abundance of native flowering plants that the local bumble bees in your region will surely recognize and be attracted to.

One more important way people can help the bumble bee is to learn about the different species and how to identify them. Scientists across the US are currently trying to gather information on the whereabouts of bumble bees and their population numbers in an effort to save them. Many scientific organizations are reaching out to the public for help in this effort. Once concerned and curious members of the public who want to help in this endeavor should be able to identify bumble bees species, whether what they saw was a male or female, where they saw the bee and when they saw it. This important information can be relaid to variety of organizations such as the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation .

These handmade super strong Honey Comb Magnets are a great way to show you're thinking about and care for bees. A gift for you or someone else that can help spark important conversations about what's going on with bees today.