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Sniffing out Bumble Bee Nests

Our trained Finders, Ernie and Betty White, have been actively contributing to bumble bee conservation since 2021, pioneering a unique approach to identifying and protecting critical pollinator habitats. Due to the elusive nature of nesting locations, our Finders can help bring efficiencies to surveys and provide invaluable data all through the power of their wet noses.

Program Impact

Since 2021, our Finders have:

  • Sniffed out over 300 potential bumble bee nesting sites through targeted environmental surveys. 

  • Located 18 active, wild nests that were confirmed immediately upon detection.

  • Surveyed for over 100 hours, across 154 miles of linear surveys. 

  • Supported conservation efforts across southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

We have found wild nests from the following species:

In addition, our Finders have been trained on an active, wild Bombus affinis (Rusty-patched bumble bee) nest and material from a wild Bombus pensylvanicus (American bumble bee) nest.

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Watch our Finders on their quest to find a nest!

Finder Betty White working hard with her nose-to-the ground.

An aerial view of Finder Ernie during a survey - locating a nest!

Finding nests is hard work, but worth every sniff

With their noses to the ground, our Finders can locate bumble bee nests that are underground and under thick vegetation. We ensure the Finders' safety during surveys and also do our best to minimize stress on the bumble bees we encounter.

The video above shows an Bombus auricomus nest, which was verified by an individual bumble bee exhibiting typical nest seeking/defensive behavior. We quickly marked the spot, grabbed this video, and moved out of this individual's way.

Support the Finders!

If you're excited about the work our Finders are doing, please consider supporting their work by becoming a Patreon family member. Thank you for helping us make a SNIFFerence!

Why Bumble Bees Matter

Native to the United States, bumble bees are critical ecosystem engineers... and they're just plain cute!

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Flowers and crops need them!

Bumble bees are able to fly in cooler temperatures and lower light levels than many other bees, making them excellent pollinators—especially at higher elevations and latitudes.

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Buzz Pollinators

“Buzz pollination,” occurs when a bumble bee grabs a flower in their jaws and vibrates their wing muscles to dislodge pollen from the flower. Many plants, including a number of wildflowers and crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cranberries, benefit from buzz pollination.

Species reliance

The flowers of Bottle Gentian are pollinated almost exclusively by bumble bees – one of the few insects strong enough open the closed corolla and climb into the bottle-like flowers.

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Video courtesy of UWM Extension

Program Partners

We are grateful for our incredible collaborators and partners who are helping us to make a snifference.

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Interested in partnering with us for bumble bee nest surveys? Contact us today!

Get Involved

To learn more about bumble bees, support preservation efforts, and get involved, please visit some of our favorite resources.

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Video and Images: Katie Homan, Lindsay Hayward, Conservation Dogs Collective, Carroll University

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