An insect that often sends people running in fright had Grade 3 students in Turner Valley mesmerized last month.
Curiosity got the better of students as they bent over to watch Mount Royal University biology instructor Alex Farmer show them the differences between Alberta's 27 native bumblebees, pulling the expired bodies of bees from a suitcase.
Farmer is raising awareness around Alberta's native bumblebees, particularly the endangered western bumblebee, after noticing a decline in the species during her studies in the Kananaskis the last six years.
The western bumblebee is distinctive with a white fuzzy stripe on its lower abdomen.
“We have over 300 species of native bees in Alberta and we know very little about them,” she said. “When you have that much diversity with different tongue lengths that can pollinate a huge diversity of plants we need to know more about native bees because we need to know what else is in trouble.”
The Turner Valley resident of 14 years has been educating naturalist groups, gardening clubs and school groups as part of the Alberta Science Network since 2011. During her field work in the forests of Kananaskis country from Sibbald to Etherington Creek from 2010 to 2012, Farmer only saw four of the once abundant western bumblebee.
The species is now considered endangered due to human activity in the region ranging from logging to the use of pesticides, said Farmer.
“It used to be that the western bumblebee was a common bee that you would find throughout Kananaskis country and even the Calgary area, but it just seemed to disappear,” she said. “It's concerning. Bumblebees are big and obvious so when you see something big and obvious declining it's like a red flag. What about the species that we aren't noticing?”
Farmer considers Turner Valley to be unique geographically because it sits between agricultural land that isn't friendly to native bees and the Boreal Forest, an important ecosystem for the native species, which range in size from two millimeters to over an inch.
In an effort to bring the numbers back up, Farmer placed bee boxes throughout the Kananaskis during her field work.
“I've probably seen easily 20 different species in and around Turner Valley, but I didn't see any western bumblebees last season,” she said. “That's what made me nervous.”
This year, she decided to get youth in her own community involved in offering more habitat opportunities for the 18 to 20 bumblebee species found in the region.
After learning about the native species, the Turner Valley School Grade 3 students wandered through forested areas of their community in late May and placed 23 bumblebee nest boxes in trees and on the ground in natural areas near native flowers, and away from human traffic.
“It was pretty exciting helping the bees,” said Carter Jennings, who helped secure a nest box in a tree. “Bees are dying because all the habitat is lost. I just want to be able to help them.”
Student Jenna Gentry said she's concerned that the western bumblebee is endangered and hopes putting nesting boxes in the forest with her classmates will give the bees a safe home.
“It's helping bees find homes and have a good life,” she said. “We're responsible for taking care of bees. A lot of people don't have many feeling for insects and animals so people should be thoughtful and caring for them because they help flowers grow.”
Farmer plans to gather the students together this fall to retrieve the boxes, check the contents and complete the education process with the students.
“I'm really interested in seeing which species we have and I'm hoping some of the boxes we have placed on the ground will have some western bumblebees,” she said. “It will be neat to get an idea of the diversity and it will give us an indication of colony success.”
