Community science project goes above and bee-yond — Multistate bumblebee data-gathering initiative trains in Buffalo

BUFFALO — Insects buzzed among the blooming wildflowers at Mosier Gulch Recreation Area on a sunny afternoon in early June.

On that day, a group of soon-to-be community scientists armed with insect nets, empty vials and ice-filled coolers were looking specifically for bumblebees. These fuzzy, bulbous yellow insects are a native pollinator, but the species is in decline around the United States.

That’s why the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation launched the Mountain States Bumblebee Atlas last year. The atlas tracks bumblebees across Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Nevada, and a separate atlas tracks bees in Montana.

Like a lot of community science projects facilitated by nonprofits and government agencies, its purpose is to fill in knowledge gaps about a species to better inform wildlife and habitat management decisions. The atlas, however, goes above and beyond, according to Amy Dolan, Mountain States Bumblebee Atlas coordinator.

“We could be finding bumblebees by asking people to go out and take pictures and posting those on iNaturalist – I love iNaturalist; it’s a fantastic app,” Dolan told participants at a training hosted in Buffalo on June 7. “What it tells you is what that species is, where it is and what it is, and that’s kind of all.”

The bumblebee atlas enforces a standardized protocol – meaning every volunteer in each of the 20 states that Xerces tracks so far is given the same training and follows the same procedure. 

The one-day training held in Buffalo, which included a morning in the classroom setting and an afternoon in the field, is one of a few ways to get involved. There are also webinars, a handbook and other information available online for those who missed the opportunity and want to help, Dolan said.

With the atlas, the conservation organization’s aim is to collect information about bumblebees in certain areas and to spread awareness about bumblebees in particular. Native pollinator bumblebees are often confused with honey bees, which are not native to North America and tend to outcompete bumblebees.

There are at least 250 species of bumblebees worldwide, 50 of which have been found in the United States. Of those, 26 have been spotted in Wyoming.

Because last summer was the first for the atlas in the Mountain West, data in Wyoming is sparse. Much of the existing data is biased toward population centers such as Denver and Salt Lake City, so Xerces hopes to enlist more participants in rural areas, Dolan said.

Still, the map shows sightings of at least four different bumblebee species throughout Johnson County. This region is unique in that both eastern and western species of bumblebees are found here, Dolan said.

Since the 1990s, conservationists have noted the decline of certain bumblebee species. Researchers cite habitat fragmentation and loss – the pollinators need flowers spring through fall to collect nectar and pollen, and nesting habitat underground for the winter months – as well as pathogen and chemical exposure as factors in the insects’ decline.

Most notably in the Mountain West, the Western bumblebee has been considered, and is currently petitioned, for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

The atlas shows what habitats the bees are using, what flowers they’re pollinating when they’re caught and which of the various species of bumblebees are where. Community scientists surveying where they live are effective in that they tend to have the best knowledge of local landscapes and where flowers bloom, Dolan said.

“This work is powered by volunteers,” she said. “If I went out on my own across these four states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, looking for bumblebees, it would take me the rest of my life, and I wouldn’t be able to find them all.”

Incidental observations of bumblebees – a less detailed data collection showing a close-up photo of the insect along with information about when and where it was found – are still valuable and can be uploaded to the atlas. But it’s difficult to really tell which species of bumblebee is present without temporarily knocking the fuzzy pollinators out.

After receiving an education in bumblebee conservation and data-gathering protocol, participants create a Bumble Bee Watch account online and adopt a grid cell, which is a roughly 50 kilometer area that they commit to survey at least twice between June 1 and Aug. 31.

Then, they’ll find an area where bumblebees will likely be present and venture out with a cooler, at least a dozen vials and an insect net.

Of course, handling wildlife requires caution. Female bumblebees, which are the primary sex that is out and about pollinating in the summer months, will sting when threatened. Volunteers were schooled in netting techniques among the fields of lupine, chokecherry and other flora at Mosier Gulch in early June – a flick, and then a flip to seal the insect inside. Dolan also cautioned volunteers to remember to sanitize the vials after each use to prevent the spread of pathogens.

Once the bee is caught in the net comes the hard part – carefully transferring the bee into a prescription bottle-sized container without accidentally chopping its head or limbs off. Then, the trapped bee is placed in a cooler filled with crushed or cubed ice, where the insect cools off for at least 15 minutes and is eventually immobilized.

The timing of the work and data organization is perhaps the most difficult part of the process. First, the survey protocol requires that volunteers identify an area roughly the size of two football fields and spend 45 person minutes – meaning if there are two people, it would be 22.5 minutes – capturing bees.

Bumblebees shouldn’t be in the cooler for longer than 90 minutes, and once they’re removed, time is ticking to take photos capturing the bug’s face, back – with its wings manually spread delicately with two fingers, and sides to locate a pollen carrier on its legs.

As the bees warm up, they begin to wiggle their limbs and fly away from the odd experience they’ve had.

The Bumblebee Atlas provides materials to help volunteers identify the species of bumblebee they have caught based on coloring of their head, thorax and abdomen, but Dolan said that she and other atlas staffers verify the species using photos and geographic information after the field season is over.

“For a long time, and I would say still today, there are some people in academia who say community scientist volunteers are not educated enough to be able to go out and do this kind of thing,” Dolan said. “The Bumblebee Atlas has become a standard for how community science can make a big impact.”

This story was published on June 19, 2025.