Queens are usually only seen in the spring and the fall. We suggest planting these gardens in a 100 square foot area. In Canada, it was found in southern Ontario and extreme southwestern Quebec. The Rusty Patched is the first bee to be listed as endangered in the US. The Rusty Patched is the first bee to be listed as endangered in the US. Bees have existed on the planet for at least 40 million years. The rusty-patched bumble bee has a very large historical range along the east coast of the U.S. from southern Maine through Tennessee, with an extension west along the northern states through Minnesota.
Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Habitat. Rusty-patched Bumble Bee Bombus affinis Cresson, 1863 Endangered (Federal) Kingdom Animalia > Phylum Arthropoda > Class Insecta > Order Hymenoptera > Family Apidae > Genus Bombus . Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Facts: Life Cycle Rusty patched bumble bee workers are all female. This formerly common bee species went into rapid and steep decline … Fatter and furrier than honeybees, bumble bees make only a small amount of honey for their own food. This bee was once commonly distributed throughout the east and upper Midwest of the United States, but has declined from an estimated 87% of its historic range in recent years. Rusty patched bumble bees nest in the ground and may be susceptible to pesticides that persist in agricultural soils, lawns and turf. While other species such as B. bimaculatus, the two-spotted bumble bee, have adapted well to urban environments, B. affinis has not. The rusty patched bumble bee is now found in only 54.68% of its former range. The life cycle of a rusty patched bumble bee colony starts in spring, when a queen emerges from her overwintering hole and starts to search for a suitable place to build a nest. There are 250 species of bumblebees and seven species of honeybees. Populations have declined as much as 87% from habitat loss, disease and pesticides. The rusty-patched bumble bee is unique among the bumble bees of North America in that the queens have a different color pattern than the workers. No one was aware of the rapid decline until it was well underway. Whether the reduction of native food plants in particular has affected B. affinis is not known. Bumblebee Predators Probably more bumblebees are killed by parasites than by predators. Bees and butterflies are important agricultural pollinators. The rusty-patched bumble bee was once an excellent pollinator of wildflowers, cranberries, and other important crops, including plum, apple, alfalfa and onion seed. They also do not have the black thumb-tack on their thorax. The rusty patched bumble bee declined rapidly during a time when bumble bee monitoring was largely limited to a few researchers. This may be because the bumblebee females are armed with a sting, but it is also due to the protection given by their warning colouration. Our Rusty Patch Bumble Bee Gardens are available in Full Sun, Part Shade, and Rain Garden options. In 2016, 40% of invertebrate pollinators (bees and butterflies) were listed as threatened with extinction. Larger than our regular kits, all Rusty Patch Bumble Bee Full Gardens come with six plants of 12 different species for a total of 72 native perennials! Climate threats include: warming and precipitation, early snow, late frost and drought.
Status: The Rusty-patched Bumblebee (Bombue affinis) has the dubious distinction of being the first bee to be listed as federally endangered. The rusty patched bumble bee population has declined by 69.36% over the last 10 years. (See the IUCN report for more information.) Despite their name, the queens do not have a rusty patch.

Rusty patched bumble bee queens begin to emerge from April onwards. Global climate change: Climate changes that may harm bumble bees include increased temperature and precipitation extremes, increased drought, early snow melt and late frost events. Rusty patched bumble bees need a supply of flowering plants near to their nest. Abdominal segments 1 and 2 are entirely yellow. Their key features are a bit more … There were no long-term studies specifically designed to document that the decline was occurring or to document why it was occurring.