Yellow-Banded Bumble Bee

Bombus terricola
Species Status: Special Concern (COSEWIC assessment; Special Concern in Ontario, Vulnerable globally (IUCN assessment)
Action Required: Conservation breeding, population augmentation, reintroduction

Yellow-Banded Bumble Bee (Bombus terricola)

The serious decline of bees has generated a lot of buzz lately — and with good reason. Ninety per cent of all flowering plants need pollinators such as the yellow-banded bumble bee to reproduce.
Their ability to fly in cooler temperatures and lower light levels sets these expert pollinators apart from many other types of bees. Yellow-banded bumble bees use a technique called “buzz pollination,” where the bee grabs hold of a flower in its jaws and vibrates its wings to shake loose pollen that would otherwise be inaccessible.

Habitat

Because they use nectar and pollen as their source of fuel, protein and nutrients, yellow-banded bumble bees love habitats that offer plenty of flowers. This can include meadows, grasslands, wetlands, forests and farms.

Range

Like the rusty-patched bumble bee, the yellow-banded bumble bee was a common species until quite recently. It was once found throughout much of central North America — ranging from Newfoundland and the Maritimes, west to eastern British Columbia, north into the Northwest Territories and Yukon, and south to North Carolina. However, its numbers have drastically declined since the 1990s, and it has not been seen in most parts of its U.S. range since 1999. Approximately 50-60% of the global range of this species occurs in Canada.

Threats

Scientists have not pinpointed the reasons for the rapid decline of such a widespread and common pollinator. At the local level, pesticide use, habitat loss and increased competition with other species like the European honeybee contribute to declines. Range-wide factors may include climate change and infections carried by commercial bees.

Recovery

Recommended Recovery Actions

In 2016, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assessed the yellow-banded bumble bee as a species of Special Concern. Ontario officially designating the species as Special Concern the same year. However, formal recovery strategies have yet to be developed. In the meantime, experts call for habitat restoration and continued surveys to track population size and distribution.

What we are doing

What is the Bumble Bee Recovery project?

Since the 1990s, bumble bee numbers have been plummeting, and that spells ecological disaster. Ninety per cent of all flowering plants — including most of the fruits and vegetables in your fridge — need these pollinators in order to reproduce.

Until the causes of these declines can be reversed, conservation breeding and reintroduction is the only way to safeguard at-risk bumble bees. Today, WPC is the only organization in Canada rebuilding wild bee populations through captive breeding. Thanks to recent breakthroughs, we’ve figured out how to dramatically increase the number of queens we produce. Once they’re released into the wild, they can establish their own colonies, producing hundreds of pollinators to sustain the ecosystems around them.

Purpose

We work to prevent native bee species from disappearing by building self-sustaining populations in Canada, studying the various bee species to learn more about the threats they face, and create opportunities for community involvement.

Goals

In 2023 we plan to have:

  • 60 bumble bee colonies established in the conservation lab
  • Produced 300 captive bred queens for overwintering
  • 17 sites across southern and central Ontario monitored for bumble bee population declines

Find out how Wildlife Preservation Canada is helping save native pollinators, including the yellow-banded bumble bee, and how you can make a difference.

Visit the project page

More articles like this

by Catherine Woo-Durand
Fieldwork forays
by Emily Forrester
Flies in disguise

We need your help

Donate to save endangered species
like the Yellow-Banded Bumble Bee

Make a donation