Have you ever experienced a small, unexpected event that turns an ordinary day into one that shines? On a normal weekend this June, I did!
It was Friday, June 21st. The morning had been wet, the day gray. I had just led a group of kids through a bumblebee survey on the Boundary-Smith Creek WMA as part of the citizen science program with the Idaho Panhandle Bees to Bears Climate Adaptation Project (a.k.a. B2B). Last year during these surveys, we caught and identified many different kinds of bumblebees. But this day, in 2 hours of searching we found (well, caught anyway) 1 bumblebee. It was a yellow-fronted bumblebee (Bombus flavifrons - you can check out a fun video of our identification on our Facebook Page.) And while that was still exciting, I had been secretly hoping we'd finally catch an elusive Western bumblebee (Bombus occidentalis) - one of the species of greatest conservation need that the B2B project is working to conserve.
"Oh well. Next month...," I thought.
As the kids were leaving, the sun finally peeked through the clouds. So I decided to go on a walk and look for wildflowers for potential seed collection (another thing we do each month!). After a few hours of hiking around, I was making my way back to my car at the Smith Creek Picnic Area when a bumblebee swooped around my head a couple times and landed, quite literally, at my feet...
It was HUGE!
It had a WHITE BUTT!!
It was the object of our quest, a WESTERN BUMBLEBEE QUEEN!!!
I was so excited that... I dropped my phone while trying to take a picture. It flew off.
Oh NO!
It's GONE!!
FOREVER!!!
After a few moments of crushing disappointment, sense prevailed and I ran back to my car to get my net and cooler and stake out the buzzing patch of snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) I had been standing near. It didn't take long. I spotted a queen again, and got several good pictures. Then I caught a few workers, put them in jars, cooled them down, and took some close-up photos before they flew off to keep gathering pollen for their baby sisters in their nest.
I sighed with relief, texted a few celebratory pics to my colleagues, and called it a day. The thunder was starting to roll in, embodying the exhilaration in my chest.
SUCCESS!!!
Who knows... YOU may be the next one to find a Western bumblebee!
Join me at our next Family Day Bumblebee Survey or Wildflower Identification and Seed Collection events at the Boundary-Smith Creek WMA!
Visit our IDFG B2B Website, where you can find our upcoming events, and follow the links to register!