An Iowa City resident discovered the first rusty patch bumble bee nest in the state since the species was listed as endangered in 2017.
In August, Michelle Wiegand, an education specialist at Johnson County Conservation, spotted a group of bees going in and out of a small hole in the soil in her backyard. Because of some markings on their bodies, she thought the bees could be the endangered rusty patch species.
“I'm not an expert on bees, and so I wasn't 100% positive. That's why I did post to iNaturalist,” Weigand said. “I wanted to get some feedback from the larger community, and when I did post, it just immediately blew up. There was a lot of feedback, a lot of verifications and excitement around the post.”
Kyle Price, a scientist at Environmental Solutions and Innovations, is part of a group that identifies bumblebee observations on iNaturalist. In the “bee nerd chat,” as he calls it, he saw Weigand’s post and reached out about excavating the nest.
Price waited until the nest was vacated permanently by the bees. This species does not reuse their nest sites, so the excavation does not harm the endangered species. Price said it was important to remove so scientists can learn more about the species, it’s micro climates and how to address the population decline.
"One of the things that fish and wildlife want to do to try and combat the decline is eventually rear rusty patch bumblebees. So in order to do that, you need to have a full grasp of the ecology that the species uses out in a native setting or natural setting,” Price said. “So getting to take a bunch of these different measurements and these small, micro climate scenarios, that can help in our ability to successfully recreate that habitat down."
Weigand said she was happy to support any additional research the nest could provide. Price spent five and a half hours doing a “slow, molasses-like procedure” to dig up the nest with colleague Robert Jean. Aside from the contribution to science the excavation made, it thrilled Weigand’s neighborhood.
“These guys were kind of like rock stars visiting our neighborhood that day and they were so generous with their time and sharing their knowledge. We had my kids and other kids who were able to observe the process. We had neighbors who took a few extra walks that day just so they could kind of peek in and see what was happening.”
To hear this conversation, listen to Talk of Iowa, hosted by Charity Nebbe. Dani Gehr produced this episode.
