There is a Buzz in the Prairie, Can you See It?

I have been lucky enough to be blessed with perfect vision. That is not to say that I see everything with perfect clarity all the time! My eyesight, however, is perfect 20/20 and I am often credited with the nickname “Hawkeye” not just because I am wearing my many University of Iowa shirts, but because I can spot a plant or animal at great distances, in the dark, in the pouring rain, on the mountain side or in the expansive prairie. I can see what everyone else missed, what all the other eyes have overlooked.

My crazy, mutant, skilled, keenly attuned eyes have spotted rare bumblebees in places that no other human has ever laid eyes on them. I am honored to say that I have seen the endangered Rusty Patched Bumblebee (Bombus affinis) in 9 counties, 4 states, and 7 unique first-time locations.

If you have followed the plight of the Rusty Patched Bumblebee, you will have seen that the recovery plans offered to this species did not include habitat protections because of the lack of specific knowledge of their known habitat and because at this point we can only assume they are not very particular about their environment. Does that mean we shouldn't protect the habitat that we know that they most often use for food and shelter? We as humans still fear what we don’t know? What do we know about these charismatic little insects? Well first, they are cute and fuzzy! Second, they are so colorful! This should make humans want to love them, right? Well hold on a minute, they also have stingers with venom. That stigma of being an angry, vengeful, and dangerous animal makes them less likely to have humans turn a loving attitude towards these adorable little furballs. Our attitudes towards bees in general are still not very favorable to supporting the human population in the long run.

“When changing the environment fails, as it so often does, human behavior must change.” Heberlein, Thomas

If I am giving a talk in a conference or small coffee talk or girl scout troop, or any group that asks for my expertise on bees, I start with the same questions. Do you love chocolate? Do you love coffee? Do you love tomatoes? How about everything in the farm stand in your grocery store? Then you love bees and that includes fuzzy bumblebees! The Cognitive fix to understanding bumblebees and how much we need them and how much they need us, is not at as complicated as it seems. Save the remaining prairies we have, restore more prairies, wetlands and woodlands to their native structures, and plant native in your private properties. We as humans need pollinators to support our human population, and these native bee populations need habitat to support their declining populations.

There is an ongoing battle in Rockford Illinois to save a tiny prairie inside the airport. The Bell Bowl Prairie is home to the Rusty Patched Bumblebee, and I myself have been here and seen the bees, the flowers, the birds, all as part of research projects. The airport is trying to plow it under and the naturalists are trying to save it. The project is stalled because of this tiny bumblebee and the voices of the humans with vision are getting louder every day. The human behavior is trying to change, they are trying to do better, and they are wanting to make the tiny prairie the best it can be. Who knows, maybe this tiny bee will be what is needed for us to finally have some clarity in our vision of what it means to be stewards of the land and finally “bee” the change in human behavior can start to save some precious habitat of these tiny, hard to see, easy to overlook creatures.