Tag | Xerces Society

Bumble Bee Atlas

Up close with a yellow-banded bumble bee sitting on a sheet of lined paper. Small details are visible, like the little hooks on its toes that it uses to hold on to things.

Exciting Finds from the 2024 Bumble Bee Atlas Field Season

Bumble Bee Atlas and Bumble Bee Watch are vital for filling data gaps and informing future conservation efforts. Today, we are highlighting some of the exciting finds of this summer’s collective efforts!

A bumble bee on a flower in the foreground, with a mountain range in the background, and a clear mountain lake below. The mountains are only lightly covered with sparse plants, hinting at the high elevation.

Celebrating Community Science as the Bumble Bee Atlas Expands to Five New States

With Montana, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming joining, the Bumble Bee Atlas is filling a key region gap that is home to many at-risk species!

Black and yellow Southern Plains bumble bee on wooly milkweed blooms

Southern Plains Bumble Bee is One Step Closer to Federal Protection

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has confirmed that the Southern Plains bumble bee is being considered for federal protection.

Community scientists photograph stunned bees on data sheets

Midwest Volunteers Map 18,000 Bumble Bees

Traversing the vast grasslands from North Dakota to Kansas, through the glades of Missouri and wetlands of Minnesota, hundreds of community scientists roamed the Midwest last summer in search of bumble bees. And they found them!

Golden-belted bumble bee on paintbrush flower

Washington State Becomes First to Adopt a Statewide Strategy to Protect Bumble Bees

Washington has just become the first state in the United States to develop a statewide strategy to conserve bumble bees. The strategy, focusing on eight bumble bee species, was created with leadership from the Xerces Society and informed by data collected through the Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas, a Xerces community science program.

Southern plains bumble bee (Bombus fraternus) observation submitted to Bumble Bee Watch by a community scientist.

Turning Appreciation into Action Through Community Science

During the month of April, there is a focus on community science projects that can be done right from home. So, the next time you find yourself in an impromptu photoshoot appreciating that magnificent monarch, fuzzy bumble bee, or fabulous milkweed, consider taking it a step further by adding your find to a community science project.

A black and yellow bumble bee on a bright pink flower

It Takes (More Than) a Village

Xerces Society work to involve community scientists in tracking bumble bees have resulted in many thousands of people submitting nearly 75,000 observations. Together, this sheds light on bumble bee populations, where they are thriving, and on which plants they are foraging -- and informs conservation and protection efforts.

Two women, one with dark hair and a hat, and one with bright red hair, look at a white insect net while standing in a grassy field.

Nebraska Bumble Bee Atlas: Doing a Little to Impact the Whole

The 2020 survey season begins this June. We hope you’ll join us in our quest to learn more about bumble bees and restore Nebraska’s natural habitats.

An illustrated landscape showing changing seasons (for instance, a tree that is half bare and half covered in bright pink blooms) shows bumble bees in various stages of their life cycle, including underground nests, foraging, and larvae.

Five Ways to Support Queen Bumble Bees this Spring

This is a critical time of year because the queen needs sufficient food herself, as well as enough to nourish her first batch of developing offspring. Adding early blooming shrubs and trees to your yard or garden can provide essential resources that will help springboard the colony to health.

A high country bumble bee (Bombus kirbiellus) looks directly at the camera, wings blurred, as it perches atop the red petals of a paintbrush blossom.

The Source of Hope and Wonder Comes in Small Packages

Rich Hatfield, senior endangered species conservation biologist and bumble bee lead for the Xerces Society, trekked into Washington state’s Pasayten Wilderness to find the elusive high country bumble bee (Bombus kirbiellus).