[Pollinator] Value of bumble bees and how to deal with nests

[Victoria MacPhail]

Hello everyone.  The North American Pollinator Partnership developed two
brochures a few years ago that may be relevant to pass on to the teacher
and parents: Bumble bees are Essential - Helping Pollinators Thrive and
Inviting Bees to Your Property - No Fear of Stings.  Wildlife Preservation
Canada and the Pollinator Partnership recently updated these for Canada too.

The "North American" (but US focused) versions are available at:
https://pollinator.org/brochures.htm

The "Canadian" versions are available at:
http://wildlifepreservation.ca/insect-pollinators/ (see side-bar about half
way down the page).

I know for Canada, I researched the stats and found that you were more
likely to drown in your bathtub than from a bee or a wasp sting (I think
the US equivalent said more likely to die from a lightening strike than
from a bee or a wasp sting).

The 'No fear of stings' brochure in particular is great as it talks about
this and other aspects of bees.

Good luck!

Victoria MacPhail


On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 2:34 PM, Peter Bernhardt <bernhap2 at slu.edu> wrote:

> Dear Stephen:
>
> I understand that some bumblebee species are more aggressive than others.
>  Some are "pussycats" but others get cranky around the time of year when
> the new queens are developing and emerging.  At that time some workers will
> attack when you come to close to the nest.  In the east, the cranky periods
> occur from late July to early September.  I've had this misfortunate twice.
>  You may need a copy of "Bumblebees of North America" by Thorp.  It's easy
> to use and you can find out whether you have pussycats or high school
> french teachers (sorry, flashbacks).  Go to the following link and see if
> this is good for you or your school library.
>
> http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10219.html
>
> Peter Bernhardt
>
>
> On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 11:36 AM, Stephen Pryor <sjpryor at hotmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hello members,
>>
>> I am a researcher in the San Luis Obispo area of California and I've been
>> called out to a school lawn that has three *very*healthy bumblebee (*B.
>> vosnesenskii*) colonies nesting in gopher borrows in the lawn where kids
>> play.
>>
>> The lead teacher does not want to have the colonies sprayed, but is
>> caught between her concern for the bees and the parents concern for the
>> their kids being stung.
>>
>> I have roped off the most active colonies and told the teachers to have
>> the kids stay a distance away. I've also been relocating the queens
>> currently emerging to a rural site nearby that also has many bumblebees
>> colonies and wild flowers, hopefully they will still mate and start their
>> own colonies.
>>
>> Does anyone have any sage advice to best avoid stings. Also could you
>> forward me papers in laypersons terms that explain the value and importance
>> of bumblebees as well as the peril that bumblebees are in nationwide and
>> worldwide.  Links would also be helpful.  We want to avoid the exterminator.
>>
>> Thanks for any help you can offer.
>>
>> Stephen Pryor
>>
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>>
>
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