Bumble bee nests don't look like honey bee hives. While they both nest in cavities, there is no honey or honeycomb pattern and they appear less organized. Instead, bumble bees build clumps of papery wax cells to hold their eggs - one size for queens...
Big news: I saw my first rusty patched bumble bee during a survey! And then I found another and another and another! I got to see their signature rusty patches, which actually range from light orange to reddish brown, as well as the black band...
Outreach is an important part of conservation and pops up multiple times in the rusty patched bumble bee recovery plan. A recovery plan is written when a species is listed as endangered and outlines the steps that need to be taken to secure the survival...
While Tuesdays are reserved for field days and Nest Quest takes up half a day every other week, the rest of the time I get to work on a range of projects in the office with more in the works! Here are a few of...
Field site at Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Center at the University of Minnesota Arboretum Grace Moore, the other intern at my site, and me at bumble bee field training with a common eastern bumble bee queen (Bombus impatiens) My absolute favorite parts of the internship are field...
https://cdn1.environmentamericas.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/10123900/IMG_0374.movWelcome to Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge! I'm Micah Sharer, the bumble bee conservation intern working at the FWS MN-WI ecological services field office for the season. I'm fascinated by (almost) all things bee-related, so I'm thrilled to be working on rusty patched bumble bee...