- 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.)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you join the thousands of visitors at the ninth annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 15--a free public event showcasing 13 museums or collections--you might--might--see bumble bees (Bombus melanopygus and Bombus vosnesenskiii) in the UC Davis Arboretum or the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, but not these four:
- Franklin's bumble bee, Bombus franklini
- Suckley cuckoo bumble bee, Bombus suckleyi
- Western bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis
- Crotch bumble bee, Bombus crotchi
These four subspecies ARE on campus, however. They're mounted specimens in the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
The California Fish and Game Commission voted 3-1 on June 12, 2019 to place these four bumble bees on the proposed endangered species list, as petitioned by the Xerces Society, Center for Food Safety, and Defenders of Wildlife.
But many agricultural interests don't want them listed as endangered species, according to a news story by Capital Public Radio's environmental reporter Ezra David Romero.
Pollination ecologist Neal Williams, professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology was among those interviewed.
"Other points I made were that in addition to these species, there are others that appear to be declining, but might not yet be so rare. We need to look into these more carefully and work to safeguard their populations before they become so precipitously endangered. I also indicated that the biologies and historical distributions of these species are quite distinct and to me this suggests that we need to do more to understand mechanisms behind changes in their numbers. For example, contrast B. franklinii versus B. occidentalis, one that had a very restricted distribution the other that was so widely distributed."
The Xerces Society points out that "Bumble bees are important pollinators of wild flowering plants and agricultural crops. They are able to fly in cooler temperatures and lower light levels than many other bees, making them excellent pollinators—especially at higher elevations and latitudes. They also perform a behavior called 'buzz pollination,' in which the bee grabs the flower in her jaws and vibrates her wing muscles to dislodge pollen from the flower. Many plants, including a number of wildflowers and crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cranberries, benefit from buzz pollination.
The late Robbin Thorp 1933-2019), distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, and a member of the Xerces Society, was one of the strongest proponents of protecting bumble bees. Thorp, a global authority on bees and co-author of Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists, honed in on Franklin's bumble bee, which once occupied one of the smallest ranges of bumble bees in the world. Its 13,300-acre range included Siskiyou and Trinity counties in California; and Jackson, Douglas and Josephine counties in Oregon. Today Franklin's bumble bee is feared extinct; Thorp last saw it in 2006.
Thorp hypothesized that the decline of the subgenus is linked to an exotic disease (or diseases) associated with the trafficking of commercially produced bumble bees for pollination of greenhouse tomatoes. Other threats may include pesticides, climate change and competition with nonnative bees.
If Franklin's bumble bee is given protective status, this could “stimulate research into the probable causes of its decline,” Thorp told us in an interview. “This may not only lead to its recovery, but also help us better understand environmental threats to pollinators and how to prevent them in future. This petition also serves as 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.”
Meanwhile, be sure to attend the ninth annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 15, to explore the diversity of life. You'll learn about bees, hawks, carnivorous plants, Native American artifacts, wine, yeast cultures dinosaurs and more. Here's hoping that bumble bees don't go the way of the....dinosaurs. (See some of the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day highlights on Bug Squad)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
In fact, he and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on June 23, 2010 to include the bumble bee on the proposed list. (See UC Davis news story.)
We're glad to see that tomorrow (Aug. 14) the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose that it be listed as an endangered species. If approved, Franklin's bumble bee would be the first bee in the western United States to be officially recognized under the ESA, according to a Xerces' press release.
Its range, a 13,300-square-mile area confined to Siskiyou and Trinity counties in California; and Jackson, Douglas and Josephine counties in Oregon, is thought to be the smallest range of any other bumble bee in the world.
Thorp, who died at age 85 on June 7 at his home in Davis, had monitored the population closely since 1998, but last saw the bumble bee in August 2006. It was he who sounded the alarm.
Thorp's surveys clearly show the declining population. 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.
He refused to believe that it may be extinct. “I am still hopeful that Franklin's bumble bee is still out there somewhere,” he told us as late as last year. He excitedly received scores of photos--by email and snail mail--from folks who thought they'd seen it. None was Franklin's bumble bee.
Xerces says that the primary threats to this species are three-fold:
- diseases from managed bees
- pesticides, and
- a small population size
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's oldest and largest global environmental network, named Franklin's bumble bee “Species of the Day” on Oct. 21, 2010. IUCN placed it on the “Red List of Threatened Species” and classified it as “critically endangered” and in “imminent danger of extinction.”
Franklin's bumble bee, mostly black, has distinctive yellow markings on the front of its thorax and top of its head, Thorp said. It has a solid black abdomen with just a touch of white at the tip, and an inverted U-shaped design between its wing bases.
“This bumble bee is partly at risk because of its very small range of distribution,” Thorp told us. “Adverse effects within this narrow range can have a much greater effect on it than on more widespread bumble bees.”
If it's given protective status, this could “stimulate research into the probable causes of its decline,” said Thorp, an active member of the Xerces Society. “This may not only lead to its recovery, but also help us better understand environmental threats to pollinators and how to prevent them in future. This petition also serves as 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.”
Thorp hypothesized that the decline of the subgenus Bombus (including B. franklini and its closely related B. occidentalis, and two eastern species B. affinis and B. terricola) is linked to an exotic disease (or diseases) associated with the trafficking of commercially produced bumble bees for pollination of greenhouse tomatoes. Other threats may include pesticides, climate change and competition with nonnative bees.
Named in 1921 for Henry J. Franklin, who monographed the bumble bees of North and South America in 1912-13, Franklin's bumble bee frequents California poppies, lupines, vetch, wild roses, blackberries, clover, sweet peas, horsemint and mountain penny royal during its flight season, from mid-May through September. It collects pollen primarily from lupines and poppies and gathers nectar mainly from mints. According to a Xerces Society press release, bumble bees are declining throughout the world.
“The decline in bumble bees like Franklin's bumble bee should serve as an alarm that we are losing important pollinators,” said Xerces Society Executive Director Scott Hoffman Black in a press release. “We hope that the story of the Franklin's bumble bee will compel us to prevent pollinators across the U.S. from sliding toward extinction.”
Sadly, Robbin Thorp died before knowing if the bumble bee will be protected. But he was told that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife would be proposing "in a few weeks" that Franklin's bumble bee be included on the ESA list. Now the proposal is going through the next steps of the procedure, which includes a comment period. If the proposal is approved, the bumble bee would receive federal protection and funding for its conservation.
Thorp, a member of the UC Davis entomology faculty for 30 years, from 1964-1994, achieved emeritus status in 1994 but continued to engage in research, teaching and public service until a few weeks before his death. A tireless advocate of pollinator species protection and conservation, he was known for his expertise, dedication and passion in protecting native pollinators, especially bumble bees, and for his teaching, research and public service. He was an authority on pollination ecology, ecology and systematics of honey bees, bumble bees, vernal pool bees, conservation of bees, native bees and crop pollination, and bees of urban gardens and agricultural landscapes.
In his retirement, Thorp co-authored two books Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists.
Born Aug. 26, 1933 in Benton Harbor, Mich., Robbin received his bachelor of science degree in zoology (1955) and his master's degree in zoology (1957) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He earned his doctorate in entomology in 1964 from UC Berkeley, the same year he joined the UC Davis entomology faculty. He taught courses from 1970 to 2006 on insect classification, general entomology, natural history of insects, field entomology, California insect diversity, and pollination ecology.
Every summer from 2002 to 2018, Thorp volunteered his time and expertise to teach at The Bee Course, an annual workshop sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History and held at the Southwestern Research Station, Portal, Ariz. The intensive 9-day workshop, considered the world's premiere native bee biology and taxonomic course, is geared for conservation biologists, pollination ecologists and other biologists.
“Robbin's scientific achievements during his retirement rival the typical career productivity of many other academic scientists,” said Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, in the obituary on the department's website. “His contributions in support of understanding bee biodiversity and systematics are a true scientific legacy.”
Somewhere, we think Robbin Thorp, tireless advocate of pollinator species protection and conservation, and a true friend of all bees, is smiling.
Resources:
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The question is: Where are you? Have you managed to "hide" all these years or are you extinct?
A “search party” of scientists and citizen scientists is forming to look for Franklin's bumble bee and other rare bumble bees from Monday, July 17 through Friday, July 21 at Mt. Ashland, Ore.
Noted bumble bee expert Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, will be there to identify the bees. In addition, he will present a brief introductory training session, showing examples of bumble bees that inhabit the area, “and especially the rare ones we hope to find.”
The event, organized by Jeffrey Dillon, Endangered Species Division Manager, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Ore., mainly involves searching for Bombus franklini and the endangered Western bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis, in the Mt. Ashland and Siskiyou-Cascade National Monument area. The survey is open to all interested volunteers.
Both bumble bees are on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
“The objective is to get more eyes out looking for the rare bumble bees,” said Thorp, co-author of Bumble Bees of North America, An Identification Guide.
Thorp will provide a "Bumble Bee 101 Tailgate Course" at 3 p.m. on Monday, July 17. The group will meet him "a few hundred yards west of the Mt. Ashland ski resort (just before reaching the gravel road)," Dillon said. Thorp also will be there Tuesday morning for an informal overview of bumble bees.
Thorp, who has been monitoring Franklin's bumble bee since 1998, hasn't seen the bee since Aug. 9, 2006, when he spotted it in a meadow near Mt. Ashland. In August of 2016 a documentary crew from CNN, headed by John Sutter, followed Thorp to the same meadow. Sutter wrote about Thorp, then 82, in a piece he called "The Old Man and the Bee," a spinoff of Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."
"That black-and-yellow bee, which looks like so many others except for the characteristic 'U' on is back, is the object of Thorp's obsession," wrote Sutter. "It's a creature he told me flies through his dreams always just out of reach."
Thorp says the distinctively marked bumble bee has the most restricted range of any bumble bee in the world. Its habitat is--or was--a small area of southern Oregon (Douglas, Jackson and Josephine counties) and northern California (Siskiyou and Trinity counties).
Franklin's bumble bee frequents California poppies, lupines, vetch, wild roses, blackberries, clover, sweet peas, horsemint and mountain penny royal during its flight season, from mid-May through September, Thorp points out. It collects pollen primarily from lupines and poppies and gathers nectar mainly from mints.
Thorp sighted 94 in 1998; 20 in 1999; 9 in 2000 and only 1 in 2001. Sightings increased slightly to 20 in 2002, but dropped to 3 in 2003. Thorp saw none in 2004 and 2005; one in 2006; and none since.
In a UC Davis interview in July 2010, Thorp said: “People often ask the value of Franklin's bumble bee. In terms of a direct contribution to the grand scale of human economies, perhaps not much, but no one has measured its contribution in those terms. However, in the grand scheme of our planet and its environmental values, I would say it is priceless.”
“Loss of a species, especially a pollinator, diminishes our global environment,” he said. “Bumble bees provide an important ecological service--pollination. This service is critical to reproduction of a huge diversity of plants that in turn provide shelter, food (seeds, fruits) to diverse wildlife. The potential cascade of effects from the removal of even one localized pollinator may affect us directly and indirectly.”
Meanwhile, Thorp keeps looking.
Dillon emailed survey volunteers that “we plan to spend two full days, Tuesday and Wednesday up on Mt. Ashland, a day over at the Hobart Bluff area (Thursday), and potentially part of a day at Grizzly Peak (Friday morning). Volunteers are welcome for part of the survey or all of it."
Some of the habitat is rugged terrain. All volunteers are encouraged to bring their own nets, and any medication needed if they are allergic to bee stings. Inexperienced folks will be paired with the more experienced, Dillon said.
"If you don't make it over on Monday, we will be up on Mt. Ashland to start the day between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. "To find us, go to the Mt. Ashland ski resort. Then continue west past the resort onto the gravel road. Stay basically at the same elevation for about 1 to 1.5 miles past the ski resort--there are other side roads that go down or up oin elevation. You should run into a cluster of vehicles on the side of the road with a number of people nearby that appear to be wandering aimlessly through the alpine meadows with white nets. There will not have been an escape, just fellow bumble bee enthusiasts hoping to be the first to find a Franklin's bumble bee."
“We have already reserved and covered the cost of the group campsite (there is only one) at the Emigrant Lake campground for the week. There are four level tent areas that hold several tents each with plenty of parking space. Showers and restrooms are a short walk away. Everyone is welcome to camp with us if interested.” The campground is located southeast of Ashland on the north edge of Emigrant Lake (reservoir). "Following the main road through the campground, the group site is basically the last campsite area before heading around the lake--it will be on your left. On Monday, July 17, we will probably get there between 5:30 and 6 p.m. We have already covered the cost of the campsite.
For further information, Dillon's office number is (503) 231-6197 and his email is jeffrey_dillon@fws.gov
Results of the 2016 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Ore., survey:
- Bumble bee species found at Mt. Ashland on July 18/19, 2016:
Bombus mixtus, B. melanopygus, B. bifarius, B. vosnesenskii, B. flavifrons, B. occidentalis, B. appositus, and B. insularis. Had a report of a B. vandykei but did not see it. - Bumble bee species found at Hobart Bluff trailhead area July 20, 2016:
Bombus mixtus, B. vosnesenskii, B. flavifrons, B. appositus, B. californicus, B. griseocollis, B. flavidus, and B. insularis. - Bumble bee species found at Grizzly Peak area July 21, 2016:
B. vosnesenskii, B. flavifrons, and B. appositus.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Thorp, a noted bumble bee expert, hasn't seen Franklin's bumble bee for 10 years, but that doesn't mean it's not there--somewhere in its small native range of southern Oregon and northern California.
Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and co-author of Bumble Bees of North America, An Identification Guide, has been chasing Franklin's bumble bee (Bombus franklini) since 1998, the year he began monitoring for the elusive bee.
Last August a documentary crew from CNN chased him--well, sort of. They followed him to a meadow near Mt. Ashland, Oregon, where he last saw the bumble bee on Aug. 9, 2006.
John Sutter, a columnist for CNN Opinion who focuses on climate change and social justice, wrote about Thorp, then 82, in a piece he called "The Old Man and the Bee," a spinoff of Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."
Sutter said he had no problem identifying Thorp. "White truck, bumble bee stick on tailgate. Yep, that's him."
Thorp also wore a t-shirt with an image of Franklin's bumble bee, a gift from his daughter. It's an image he took.
"That black-and-yellow bee, which looks like so many others except for the characteristic 'U' on is back, is the object of Thorp's obsession," wrote Sutter. "It's a creature he told me flies through his dreams always just out of reach."
No, Thorp and the documentary crew didn't find it that August day. Other bees, but not "that one."
But Thorp will keep looking for Franklin's bumble bee, which is on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). He helped sound the alarm that put it on the Red List.
"Bombus franklini occurs only in the USA," IUCN relates. "It is found only from southern Oregon to northern California between the Coast and Sierra-Cascade Ranges, in Douglas, Jackson and Josephine and Siskiyou and Trinity counties in Oregon and California, respectively. This area is around 190 miles in the north-south direction (40º58' to 43º30'N latitude) and 70 miles from east to west (122º to 124ºW longitude)."
Franklin's bumble bee was named in 1921 for Henry J. Franklin, who monographed the bumble bees of North and South America in 1912-13. During its flight season, from mid-May through September, Franklin's bumble bee frequents California poppies, lupines, vetch, wild roses, blackberries, clover, sweet pea, horsemint and mountain penny royal. It collects pollen primarily from lupines and poppies, and gathers nectar mainly from mints.
We remember a July 2010 interview with Robbin Thorp.
“People often ask the value of Franklin's bumble bee," Thorp told us. "In terms of a direct contribution to the grand scale of human economies, perhaps not much, but no one has measured its contribution in those terms. However, in the grand scheme of our planet and its environmental values, I would say it is priceless.”
“Loss of a species, especially a pollinator, diminishes our global environment,” he said. “Bumble bees provide an important ecological service--pollination. This service is critical to reproduction of a huge diversity of plants that in turn provide shelter, food (seeds, fruits) to diverse wildlife. The potential cascade of effects from the removal of even one localized pollinator may affect us directly and indirectly.”
Meanwhile, Thorp continues to receive photos from folks asking if "this one" is Franklin's bumble bee. Or "that one."
No. Not "this one." Or "that one."
But he appreciates the lookout.
And Robbin Thorp still holds out hope that somewhere in that five-county area of southern Oregon and northern California, Franklin's bumble bee may reappear. Maybe 2017?
After all, it's a brand new year.