- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
What's it all about? The Bohart Museum of Entomology is launching its second annual Robbin Thorp Memorial Bumble-Bee-of-the-Year Contest to see who can find and photograph the first bumble bee of 2022 in Yolo or Solano counties.
Participants are to capture an image of a bumble bee in the wild in either of the two counties and email the image to bmuseum@ucdavis.edu, with the details of time, date and place. The image must be recognizable as a bumble bee, said contest coordinator Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology.
The winner will receive a coffee cup designed with the endangered bumble bee that the late Robbin Thorp closely monitored—Franklin's bumble bee, Bombus franklini, known to exist in a small area by the California-Oregon border. UC Davis doctoral alumnus Fran Keller, a professor at Folsom Lake College and a Bohart Museum scientist, designed the cup. Bohart scientist Brennen Dyer photographed the specimen.
Thorp, a global authority on bees and a distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, always looked forward to finding or seeing the first bumble bee of the year in the area.
The native black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, is the first bumble bee to emerge in the area, according to Thorp. It forages on manzanitas, wild lilacs, wild buckwheats, lupines, penstemons, clovers, and sages, among others.
Thorp served on the UC Davis entomology faculty for 30 years, from 1964 to 1994. Although he achieved emeritus status in 1994, he continued to engage in research, teaching and public service until a few weeks before his death on June 7, 2019 at age 85 at his home in Davis.
Nicholson, a researcher in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology labs of Professor Neal Williams, a pollination ecologist, and Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño, is a 2015 alumnus of The Bee Course, where Thorp taught from 2002 through 2018. The nine-day intensive workshop, geared for conservation biologists and pollination ecologists and considered the world's premiere native bee biology and taxonomic course, takes place annually in Portal, Ariz., at the Southwestern Research Station, part of the American Museum of Natural History, N.Y.
Kimsey praised Thorp for his expertise, generosity and kindness. Kimsey, who first met Thorp when she was a graduate student at UC Davis, said that although he wasn't her major professor, “my project was on bees and he was incredibly helpful and supportive. His enthusiasm about pollinators and bees in particular actually grew after he retired, and he continued helping students and researchers and was the backbone of so much research. His support and kindness was matched by his undemanding assistance and expertise.”
In 2014, Thorp co-authored two books, Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (Princeton University) and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday).
Thorp, the last known person to see Franklin's bumble bee in its native habitat, spotted it in 2006 near Mt. Ashland. The bee inhabits--or did--a 13,300-square-mile area within the five-county area of Siskiyou and Trinity in California; and Jackson, Douglas and Josephine in Oregon.
Thorp sighted 94 Franklin's bumble bees in that area in 1998, but by 2003, the tally had dropped to three. Thorp saw none in 2004 and 2005; one in 2006; and none since. Thorp's determined hunt for the bumble bee resulted in the CNN publication of "The Old Man and the Bee," a spin-off of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Back in the 2009, a team of University of California scientists, led by Gordon Frankie of UC Berkeley and Robbin Thorp (1933-2019) of UC Davis, wrote this incredible article, "Native Bees are a Rich Natural Resource in Urban California Gardens," published in California Agriculture (UC Agriculture and Natural Resources).
It's an excellent resource.
The abstract:
"Evidence is mounting that pollinators of crop and wildland plants are declining worldwide. Our research group at UC Berkeley and UC Davis conducted a 3-year survey of bee pollinators in seven cities from Northern California to Southern California. Results indicate that many types of urban residential gardens provide floral and nesting resources for the reproduction and survival of bees, especially a diversity of native bees. Habitat gardening for bees, using targeted ornamental plants, can predictably increase bee diversity and abundance, and provide clear pollination benefits."
Jennifer Hernandez, Barbara Ertter, Jaime Pawelek, Sara Witt, Mary Schindler, Rollin Coville, and Victoria Wojcik. Coville provided the images.
"Outdoor urban areas worldwide are known to support a rich diversity of insect life (Frankie and Ehler 1978)," they wrote. "Some insects are undesirable and characterized as pests, such as aphids, snails, earwigs and borers; urban residents are most aware of these. Other urban insects are considered beneficial or aesthetically pleasing, such as ladybird beetles and butterflies; this category includes a rich variety of insects whose roles in gardens go largely unnoticed and are thus underappreciated (Grissell 2001; Tallamy 2009). They regularly visit flowers and pollinate them, an important ecological service."
"We report the results of a 2005-to-2007 survey of bees and their associations with a wide variety of ornamental plant species in seven urban areas, from Northern California to Southern California. While non-native honey bees (Apis mellifera) are common in many gardens, numerous California native bee species also visit urban ornamental flowers. Of about 4,000 bee species known in the entire United States, about 1,600 have been recorded in California."
That deserves to be repeated. Of the 4000 bee species known in the United States, about 1600 reside in California. See some of them listed on the chart above.
Notice it includes the non-native bee, the honey bee, Apis mellfera. It is an "introduced bee," although numerous non-scientists think it's a native. European colonists introduced it to America (in what is now Virginia) in 1622.
The phrase, "Save the (Honey) Bees," became prominent during the colony collapse disorder. But the bees that need saving now are the natives.
If you want to know more about the native bees in California, this book should be in your library: California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists by UC-affiliated scientists
/span>- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you've ever been asked that, you may have responded--quite politely--"Small, thank you!"
You probably didn't thank the squash bees.
But as we celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, let's remember that squash bees probably pollinated the pumpkin that ended up as a pie on your table.
The squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa, is a specialist that pollinates only the cucurbits or squash family, Cucurbitaceae, which includes pumpkins, squash, gourds, cucumbers and zucchini. P. pruinosa is a species of solitary bee in the tribe Eucerini, the long-horned bees. There's also another genera, Xenoglossa.
Squash bees are early risers, rising before the sun does. They begin pollinating the blossoms as soon as they open. Other bee species, such as honey bees (which are non-natives), don't visit the flowers so early.
Around noon, the blossoms close for the day, so there's a limited time for pollination--and a limited time to admire and photograph them.
The females are ground nesters. "The males sleep in the blossoms at night and wait for the females to arrive," the late late Robbin Thorp (1933-2019), UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, told us.
Another attribute: The squash bee is a native of North America, unlike the honey bee.
"Before Europeans brought honey bees to the New World, squash bees were busy aiding the adoption, domestication, spread, and production of squashes and gourds by indigenous peoples throughout the Americas," according to an article by USDA research entomologist James Cane.
"Hey, there, pumpkin, do you want another piece of pie, pollinated by our native bees, the squash bees?"
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Is Franklin's bumble bee extinct or is it just elusive?
Annual search parties conducted since 2006 have failed to locate the species.
Now scientists may learn its status via DNA "fingerprints."
A recent article in the National Geographic indicated: "For the past several years, the wildlife service (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and the U.S. Geological Survey have been developing a DNA fingerprint for Franklin's bumblebee. Once it's complete, scientists will be able to test flower samples for the bee's genetic material—they wouldn't need to see the bee to determine it's still alive and has recently visited a particular area."
Fascinating news, and news that the late Robbin Thorp (1933-2019), distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis and a global expert on bumble bees, would have treasured.
Franklin's bumble bee, Bombus franklini, inhabits--or did--a 13,300-square-mile area confined to five counties--Siskiyou and Trinity counties in California; and Jackson, Douglas and Josephine counties in Oregon. It's now on the list of federally endangered species, and Thorp (partnering with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation), helped put it there.
Thorp, a member of the UC Davis entomology faculty for 30 years (1964-1994) and co-author of the landmark Bumble Bees of North America: an Identification Guide, closely monitored the population for more than two decades. His surveys clearly showed the declining population. His sightings decreased from 94 in 1998 to 20 in 1999 to 9 in 2000 to one in 2001. Sightings increased slightly to 20 in 2002, but dropped to three in 2003. He saw none in 2004 and 2005; one in 2006; and none since.
We chronicled his many trips to the five-county area to search for the elusive bumble bee, and his never-fading optimism.
Thorp's determined hunt resulted in the CNN publication of "The Old Man and the Bee," a spin-off of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."
We remember his excitement every time folks telephoned or messaged him that "I think I found it!" (Here's what it looks like.)
"Don't give me a heart attack," he'd reply.
Named in 1921 for Henry J. Franklin (who monographed the bumble bees of North and South America in 1912-13), Franklin's bumble bee frequented California poppies, lupines, vetch, wild roses, blackberries, clover, sweet peas, horsemint and mountain penny royal during its flight season, from mid-May through September. The bumble bee "collects pollen, primarily from lupines and poppies, and gathers nectar mainly from mints," Thorp told us.
Fast forward to today. Is the species extinct, as many scientists think?
"Even after 15 years, it's not unrealistic to think Franklin's bumblebee will be found," Matt Kelly wrote in National Geographic. "There are notable examples of researchers rediscovering bees and other insects after they've been presumed to be extinct: The blue calamintha bee was found after nine years without a sighting in Florida; Fender's blue butterfly was found after 52 years in Oregon; and Wallace's giant bee, the world's largest, was rediscovered after 122 years in Indonesia. Of the more than 350 species rediscovered since 1889, the average time between the last sighting and rediscovery is 61 years, a 2011 study found."
The DNA fingerprints may reveal what Thorp has always thought: "It's out there somewhere."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Franklin's bumble bee, Bombus franklini,--a bee that he monitored for decades until his death in 2019--is now protected as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Protection means opening up funding and resources.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced its decision Aug. 23 to place the bumble bee, known to inhabit only a small range of southern Oregon and northern California real estate, on the Endangered Species List. Only one other bumble bee, the rusty patched bumble bee, Bombus affinis, is on that list.
Thorp, the last known person to see Franklin's bumble bee in its native habitat, spotted it in 2006 near Mt. Ashland. The bee inhabits--or did--a 13,300-square-mile area confined to five counties--Siskiyou and Trinity counties in California; and Jackson, Douglas and Josephine counties in Oregon. Its range may be the smallest range of any bumble bee species in North America, or even the world, he mused.
Thorp, a member of the UC Davis entomology faculty for 30 years (1964-1994), continued his research, teaching and public service until his death in 2019 at age 85. He was known for his expertise, dedication and passion in protecting native pollinators, especially bumble bees, and for his teaching, research and public service. A worldwide expert on bumble bees, he co-authored the landmark Bumble Bees of North America: an Identification Guide, published in 2014.
The UC Davis scientist especially zeroed in on Franklin's bumble bee. Knowing it was critically imperiled, he and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation petitioned FWS in 2010 for its endangered species status. In June 2019, just before he died, he was delighted to hear it had made the "proposed list" of endangered species.
Gaining endangered species status could not only lead to its recovery, Thorp told us, but would also help us "better understand environmental threats to pollinators and how to prevent them in future." He called the petition "a wake-up call to the importance of pollinators and the need to provide protections from the various threats to the health of their populations.”
Many Trips to Hunt for the Bee
We recounted his many trips to the five-county area to search for the elusive bumble bee, and his never-fading optimism.
“I am still hopeful that Franklin's bumble bee is still out there somewhere,” Thorp told us in a news article published in 2011. “Over the last 13 years I have watched the populations of this bumble bee decline precipitously. My hope is this species can recover before it is too late."
Thorp's surveys, conducted since 1998, clearly showed the declining population. His Franklin's bumble bee sightings decreased from 94 in 1998 to 20 in 1999 to 9 in 2000 to one in 2001. Sightings increased slightly to 20 in 2002, but dropped to three in 2003. Thorp saw none in 2004 and 2005; one in 2006; and none since.
“Even though none have been seen since 2006, Franklin's bumble bee populations could potentially persist undetected,” FWS wrote in a news release. The bee is listed as endangered, but its habitat is not. Why? “Because the bee is considered to be flexible with regards to its habitat, the availability of habitat does not limit the conservation of the Franklin's bumble bee now, nor will it in the foreseeable future," a FWS spokesperson said.
Named in 1921 for Henry J. Franklin (who monographed the bumble bees of North and South America in 1912-13), Franklin's bumble bee was known to frequent California poppies, lupines, vetch, wild roses, blackberries, clover, sweet peas, horsemint and mountain penny royal during its flight season, from mid-May through September. The bumble bee "collects pollen, primarily from lupines and poppies, and gathers nectar mainly from mints," Thorp told us.
Thorp's determined hunt for the bumble bee resulted in the CNN publication of "The Old Man and the Bee," a spin-off of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."
Thorp liked the headline, but he told us he was just hoping that the bee itself would make headlines. He wanted it found.
The next best thing, however, is that the Fish and Wildlife Service has "found" Franklin's bumble bee and it is now protected.
(Editor's note: See more information on the Federal Register.)