Elise Balin
Staff Writer
The Western Bumble Bee, a key pollinator that plays an important role within the ecosystem is declining at a rapid rate due to climate change, pathogens, as well as the use of pesticides and herbicides.
Lead invertebrate zoologist with the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, Lusha Tronstad and PhD student Christy Bell emphasised the importance of the role that the Western Bumble Bee plays within ecosystems in Wyoming.
“If you like to eat then you should care about these pollinators” said Tronstad.
Bell and Tronstad agreed that a world without the Western Bumble Bee would be a very different world. Both researchers touched base on the important pollination role that bumble bees provide.
“Our food that we eat in the produce section within the grocery store, most of that would be gone if we didn’t have pollinators, so we would see a decline in all of our fruits and vegetables,” said Tronstad.
Not only did Tronstad and Bell place importance on the roles that bumble bees play in reference to food security but also the role they play within the agriculture industry as a whole. Bell said that studies show if wild bees are present, even when honey bees are present as well, agricultural crops see higher yields and the size of the crop is increased as well. But the introduction of agriculture crops that do not flower, such as grains have had a negative impact on the population of bumble bees . . .due to the fact that most of the land which has been put to use for producing grains was once a rangeland that had flowing plant species which bumble bees pollinated.
Bell said that the public should realize that if they like to garden or go on a hike and see flowers or even see mule deer that they need to care about these bumble bee colonies. The impact that bumble bees have is an ongoing list that affects daily life .
But there is a large difference between honey bees and bumble bees due to the fact that honey bees do not play such large pollination roles. She describes honey bees as livestock, as they are used for their honey and do not have the same impact on successful pollination that bumble bees have. Honeybees are used for what they produce, but bumblebees are needed for the production of plant species.
“80 percent of wild native plants require insect pollination that is generally done by bees and bees are the only pollinators that actively collect pollen.” said Bell.
The data that is collected by researchers such as Tronstad and Bell with the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database is put to use in ecosystems across the state.
“We work with managers within the state and federal agencies and so the data that we collect is given to managers that are on that land, with that data they can make the best decision that they can for that ecosystem,” said Tronstad.
Tronstad and Bell are taking on more research which has high hopes of benefiting the declining bumble bee population in the future. Both experts touched base on the fact that the public can take part in benefiting the bumble bee population as well.
“If you care about bees and want to help them out you can leave leaf litter on the ground over the winter and [not] plow the ground too early, wait until they come out because usually they spend the winter months under the ground in bare soil,” said Tronstad. The Western bumble bee not only benefits wildlife and various plant species by also the daily lives of community members across the state of Wyoming. Tronstad and Bell encourage the public to be active and aware of the bumble bee popula
