THE RUSTY PATCHED
BUMBLEBEE
The rusty patched bumblebee
appears to be at serious risk of
extinction. Despite intensive and
repeated searches, it has not
been found in most of its range
since 2003. The bee was listed as
endangered under the Species at
Risk Act in Canada in 2010.
After years of pressure by
scientists, conservation groups,
and concerned citizens, in 2017
the US government agreed
to list the bee under the US
Endangered Species Act. The
listing was a huge victory for
bumblebee conservation because
federal agencies must take steps
to protect the bee’s remaining
habitat and help conserve
the species.
affinis),
the yellow-banded bumblebee (
Bombus terricola
), and
Ashton’s bumblebee (
Bombus ashtoni
). But in 2001, all three
species began to disappear. “It would be like if you went out one
day and there were no cardinals, or there were no mockingbirds
anymore,” Ascher said. “It’s that obvious to bee people.”
He wasn’t the only one to notice. Between 2004 and 2006,
biologists Sheila Colla and Laurence Packer at York University
in Toronto carried out field surveys, counting bumblebees in the
southern part of Ontario, a province in Canada. They compared
To protect the few remaining rusty patched
bumblebees, the United States added the
species to the endangered list in 2017.
12
Where Have All the Bees Gone?
