With all this extra time close to home, it’s a great excuse to explore nearby nature. Strolling around the block, or even peeking at your potted plants outside, it’s hard not to notice how all this rain and sun is making plants burst in abundance this spring. Where blooms are, bees are quick to follow, right?

Actually, this may no longer be a rhetorical question. In recent years, people in different parts of the world have noticed a distinct lack of insects in places where they had been the norm.

In Germany, residents concerned with their surprisingly insect-free windshields, took up the charge and counted local insect populations. They documented a more than 75% decline from rates thirty years earlier. The recognized extirpation (local extinction) of Crotch Bumblebees, Bombus crotchii, in California’s Central Valley, has led to its petition to be included as an endangered species in California.

In San Diego County, folks have expressed concern over a lack of buzzing in the outdoor areas they frequent. Working at The Nat, it’s not uncommon to be asked: “Where are all the bumblebees?”

This is a great question, and we need more information before we can answer it.

We need your help documenting the five species of bumblebee regularly found in San Diego County: the Yellow-faced Bumblebee (Bombus vosnesenskii), Sonoran Bumblebee (Bombus sonorus), Black-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus melanopygus), California Bumblebee (Bombus californicus), and Crotch's Bumblebee (Bombus crotchii). We need to know where they are being spotted, and how many are being seen.

Here’s what you can do:  

Posted by The Nat on April 17, 2020