Participate in Bumble Bee Community Science

If you’ve been looking for a way to get hands-on involvement with wildlife conservation, this is for you!

Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC) has been running Bumble Bee Community Science Monitoring Programs across Canada (primarily in Ontario) since 2015. These programs aim to train volunteers on how to survey for and identify bumble bees at specific locations independently over the summer. Volunteers follow individual program protocols, photograph individuals and submit observations to Bumble Bee Watch for verification by experts. Every year, WPC continues to lead or partner on more community science programs, with the hope of expanding across Canada in the future.

Looking for a program in your area?

Pinery (Ontario)

Ontario Program Coordinator, Tiffani Harrison, demonstrating survey techniques at the 2022 Pinery Training Workshop © Sarah Knoerr

WPC piloted their first program at Pinery Provincial Park in Ontario in 2015 (the last known location of the rusty-patched bumble bee in Canada, and the Ashton’s cuckoo bumble bee in Ontario) and it has been successfully running ever since. The bumble bee monitoring program runs at Pinery Provincial Park in Grand Bend, Ontario from June to September, with the training workshop happening in mid-late June. Volunteers have a vast array of sites throughout the park to choose from, and catch and identify all the bumble bees they can to record the bumble bee community in the park (and look for any straggling endangered species!). To-date, 10 species have been observed at the park including one at-risk species, American bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus; designated Special Concern). As of 2025, this program has contributed more than 4,380 valuable observations to the Bumble Bee Watch platform –making up around 21% of all verified Ontario observations!

Interested in getting involved?

Sign-up for our Pinery Bumble Bee Community Science Training Workshop

Sign-up for Bee Walks at Pinery

Email pollinators@wildlifepreservation.ca

At-risk and locally uncommon species found through the program at Pinery Provincial Park

Claremont (Ontario)

WPC showing bumble bees at the 2022 Claremont Training Workshop ©Sarah Knoerr

The bumble bee monitoring program running out of the Claremont Nature Centre began in 2022 through a partnership between TRCA and WPC. To date, the Claremont program has contributed nearly 700 valuable observations to the Bumble Bee Watch platform (with about 200 of those being from 2025). These 700 observations span across 11 different species, two of which are Species at Risk (the yellow-banded bumble bee (Bombus terricola) and the American bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus), both designated Special Concern).

Save the date! Claremont workshop Saturday July 4, 2026

At-risk and locally uncommon species found through the program at Claremont Nature Centre

MacGregor Point (Ontario)

Cole (left) helps capture a bumble bee from a bug net with Ontario Parks staff (right). Volunteers look on behind the two, on a sunny day.

Lead Biologist Cole Blair (left) assists Ontario Parks staff (right) with a bumble bee capture from a bug net at MacGregor Point (2025). ©Annika Wilcox.

2026 marks the pilot year of the bumble bee monitoring program at MacGregor Point Provincial Park. The season will run from June to September, following training workshops in mid June. We are excited to learn about the bumble bee community at this beautiful provincial park!

Glenbow (Alberta)

Ontario Program Coordinator, Tiffani Harrison, leading the 2019 training workshop at Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park Workshop ©Julia Millen

PROGRAM ON PAUSE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

In partnership with the Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation, this program began in 2017. The program was on hold during the COVID-19 Pandemic but was excitedly restarted in 2022. This is currently our only program outside of Ontario. Volunteers have recorded 18 species in the Park, including the Threatened western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis), the Special Concern yellow-banded bumble bee (Bombus terricola), and the Endangered Ashton cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus bohemcius). As of 2022, volunteers have contributed ~700 observations to the Bumble Bee Watch platform –making up ~19.4% of all Alberta observations!

experienceglenbow@grpf.ca

At-risk and locally uncommon species found through the program at Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park

Don’t see a program in your area?

Feel free to make a suggestion for potential locations or organizations for WPC to partner with via email pollinators@wildlifepreservation.ca

Bumble Bee ID Cards

We have created ID cards for some regions in Canada. Download to your phone or to save and print at home.

Download ID Cards

Bonnie Zand

How to use Bumble Bee ID Cards

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