Read Rocky Mountain bee news covering wild bee research in Colorado and managed pollinators on Montana farms, with regional coverage of Utah, Wyoming and the Dakotas.
Bee conservation in your region
Rocky Mountain bee news and regional research
A Colorado study and a Montana agricultural guide look at different bees. The first tracks changes in the range of the western bumble bee. The second explains how growers use honey bees and alfalfa leafcutting bees for pollination. Find both sources below, then explore news from neighboring regions.
What does a 72 percent decline mean in Colorado’s mountains?
Researchers estimated a 72 percent decline in western bumble bee occupancy in the Southern Rocky Mountains from 1998 to 2020. Occupancy measures how likely a species is to be present at a site. That figure describes where researchers expected to find this particular bee. It cannot tell us how many individual bees of every species disappeared from Colorado.
From the archives
Rocky Mountain bee news archive
New report finds 72% decline for western bumble bees in parts of Colorado
A new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows a 72% decline in western bumblebees in Colorado’s Southern Rocky Mountains since 1998. The report found that climate change, drought, and increased use of neonicotinoid pesticides have put bumblebees and other pollinators at risk.
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Managed Pollinators in Montana
Two kinds of bees are used in agricultural production in Montana: honey bees and alfalfa leafcutting bees (ALCB). Use the links below to find the information you need.
Read the source articleLocal News. Local Action.
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