Researchers provide new hope for at-risk humble bumbles

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Have you heard the buzz? May 20 is World Bee Day, celebrating pollinators around globe.

While many tend to think first of honey bees, Canada is home to hundreds of native bee species, including the humble bumble.

These fuzzy insects, easy to recognize by their round bodies and black and yellow stripes are found in every province and territory of Canada except Nunavut, making them a common sight as spring rolls around. These prolific pollinators are often the first bees out in spring and last to nest in fall.

They are an important part of our ecosystem.

Unfortunately, bumble bee populations in Canada are at risk, with some species, such as the rusty-patched bumble bee, not seen in Canada since 2009.

Enter the bee-ologists at Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC), which is working to help declining bumble bee populations through the Bumble Bee Recovery Project.

Taylor Kerekes, lead biologist with the Native Pollinator Initiative at WPC and her team are working on a multi-step program to help Canadian bumbles, including the species of special concern — the yellow-banded bumble bee.

“Our team goes out in the spring and we monitor bumble bee populations in Ontario,” Kerekes explained. “This is mostly focused around the Guelph-GTA area, and then we also have a team up in Sudbury for more northern surveys.”

The researchers are working to determine “how populations of the yellow banded are doing but also just taking general inventory of all the bumble bees in the area and at our sites.”

In addition to observing bee populations, Kerekes said  there will be “a really small number of the yellow banded bumble bees, so we can bring them back to our conservation breeding lab.”

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Back at WPC’s southern Ontario lab, the bees are further studied.

“We take these bees back to our lab. We care for them. We do different things like we mate the bees, we overwinter the bees, and we’re hoping that we can build a large enough population in the lab that we can then do releases to those wild sites,” Kerekes said.

While the lab-grown bees aren’t quite ready for release just yet, the plan to re-establish pollinator populations is vital to preserving ecosystems and food security. According to the United Nations, more than 75% of the world’s food crops depend entirely, or in part, on animal populations.

While honey bees are typically what people think of when it comes to bees, bumble bees can also help with agricultural pollination. Kerekes noted bumbles particularly love fruit trees, such as apple, which are in blossom right now.

Leaving leaf litter on the lawn or garden, or in a pile, over the winter is integral to protecting bumble bees, as queens will nest underground during the cold months. The queens emerge in the spring and will find a place to call home, setting up shop there for the summer.

“I know everyone likes to have immaculate lawns and backyards, but sometimes even just leaving a small portion of your backyard that’s a little bit messy, like leaving leaves and debris a little bit is really helpful for them,” she said.

Habitat loss

Kerekes said the bees are having more difficulty finding places to nest as Canadian cities become larger and areas that were once green spaces become used for other purposes, such as housing and agriculture. “Urbanization is fragmenting their resources, so they need flowers to obtain pollen and  nectar.

“They also need areas to create their nest. As I mentioned, they nest underground. So we need to be able to make sure that they have those areas for nesting resources.”

While farmland may seem like the ideal habitat for a bee, with plenty of fruits and veggies flowering, “bumble bees need multiple sources of different pollens and the different nutrition that comes with those throughout their life cycle. So, just having one plant that’s on farmland might not be enough for them. Just having some wildflowers around farms, even in urban areas, has been shown to help with that habitat loss.”

No Mow May?

Some environmental advocates promote the idea of not mowing the lawn in May, leaving flowers such as dandelions to bloom.

But Kerekes insisted this isn’t necessary if there are other food sources, such as fruit trees or flowering shrubs available.

“If you’re in an area and there is literally nothing else blooming, then I would say it is going to be more helpful to leave the dandelions for the bees rather than that they have nothing.

“If you have a really lovely pollinator garden in your backyard or other things like blooming trees – a lot of our early rising bumble bees forage a lot on trees like apples and shrubs like lilacs. So if you have these other resources, I would say don’t worry about mowing dandelions.”

While not a native species, lilac shrubs are typically easy to grow and the bumble bees “are super super keen on the lilacs. That’s something that we monitor,” Kerekes explained.

As generalist pollinators, bumble bees can be found on different types of flowers, and will often gravitate towards New England Asters and goldenrod, as well as flowering trees, such as pussywillow.

The lab at WPC is currently studying nutrients in pollen, which could help with providing more of those species in areas where bees are having trouble finding food. “In partnership with some of our research partners, we are testing asters and goldenrod in our lab. So, hopefully we find that the pollens nice and nutritious for them.”

As research continues at the lab, Kerekes and her team hope to release some of the lab-grown bees within the next five years.

For those looking to help bees, WPC runs a Bumble Bee Community Science program, collecting data on bumble bee populations, as well as the Bees on Board program, helping to transport bees to the lab.

More information is available here.

lnelles@postmedia.com                                                                                                                          Twitter: @shantoranelles