Two years ago, a citizen scientist recorded the first known observation of an American bumblebee in Idaho.
They uploaded the photo to an online database, where the unusual find was verified by a bumblebee expert and entered into a catalog of thousands of bumblebee observations.
Since the project launched in 2018, more than a thousand community scientists have entered sightings into the Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas (pnwbumblebeeatlas.org), one of the most comprehensive data sets of field observations in North America, and a model for other atlas projects in Missouri, Nebraska and California. The Northwest has long been a hotspot for bumblebee diversity — of the 50 species of bumblebees in North America, the region is home to about half of those. But conservation experts say relatively little is known about individual species' habitats and populations.
Citizen observations can provide scientists and policymakers with data to protect bumblebee species. For example, the American bumblebee was once the most commonly observed species in the United States, but it has struggled in recent decades and is now a potential candidate for an endangered listing.
But to protect the bees, scientists need more data.
"We know some about bumblebees in general, but when we think about individual species and how to help an individual species recover, we just don't have that information," says Rich Hatfield, senior conservation biologist and bumblebee conservation director at the Xerces Society, a Portland-based nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of invertebrates.
To fill in information gaps, the "bee atlas" relies on community scientists. These community scientists can be found throughout Washington, Idaho and Oregon, sweeping long insect nets in figure-eight motions to catch bumblebees. Often, they place the bumblebees in small vials and put them in coolers of ice, which immobilizes them long enough to photograph. The bumblebees then warm back up and fly off. Experienced trackers can photograph bees without capturing them, but identification can be difficult without clear photos.
The decline in bumblebee populations, and pollinators in general, is due to a variety of factors including pesticide use, parasites and diseases, loss of habitat, and climate change, says Taylor Cotten, conservation assessment section manager at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The department — as well as state partners in Idaho and Oregon — teamed up with Xerces to start the database.
The first phase of the atlas ran from 2018 to 2020 and had over 21,000 total bumblebee observations of 25 different species. The project is now in its second phase, which will run through 2023. The second phase is focused more on gathering data on species of greatest conservation need, which are native species that are rare or declining in number, Hatfield says.
During the first phase, community scientists recorded over a thousand observations of species of greatest conservation need, but more data is needed for effective conservation.
"I think people are really excited and engaged in bumblebee conservation and looking for opportunities to get involved. I think we've been able to provide that and engage people in conservation science," Hatfield says.
The most at-risk bees include Franklin's bumblebee, the western bumblebee, Morrison's bumblebee, and the Suckley cuckoo bumblebee.
Currently, only two species of bumblebees are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Franklin's bumblebee, which has not been detected since 2006, is one of them. The western bumblebee is currently a candidate for an endangered listing in Washington.
The western bumblebee has been detected regularly throughout atlas surveys but has been notably absent in lower elevation agricultural areas and west of the Cascade Mountains, both areas it had been found historically, Hatfield says.
While the prime time for catching bumblebees is in the summer months, conservation work doesn't have to stop when the charismatic insects stop flying.
Queen bumblebees spend half of their life cycle underground, hibernating in shallow holes. Hatfield says there is a significant gap in knowledge about where these queens overwinter, and it is important to learn more about their overwintering habitat.
Fall and winter are important times to create and preserve habitat for pollinators, says Dr. David James, associate professor of entomology at Washington State University. Certain gardening activities — like pruning — can harm the bees' hibernation.
"Every autumn, I used to go out and cut everything down, most people do, I think. But that's bad because you're taking away all the nesting places for all the pollinators," James says.
Another important aspect to protecting habitat is to have a variety of plants that flower at different times, so pollinators have food sources from when they first emerge from hibernation in early spring until the fall.
Azalea and willow are good early-season plants, milkweeds are a good midseason plant, and asters are good late-flowering plants for fall, James says.
"With pollinators, you can make a difference in a very small space by providing nice nectaring resources in your yard or in your open spaces where you can," Washington Fish and Wildlife's Cotten says. ♦
Kathryn Jones is a journalism student at Washington State University's Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.
