Unexpected Visitor

It's time to pop open a bottle of champagne and do a happy dance.

Finally, finally, we saw a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) in our yard.

After a 20-year absence.

Dusted with yellow pollen, it (or rather he) was nectaring the rock purslane--he, along with assorted honey bees and hover flies.

This Bombus brought to mind the May 27th Webinar that bumble bee expert Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis presented on "The Plight of the Bumble Bees" at UC Davis.

At the Webinar, he focused on Franklin's bumble bee (range of southern Oregon and northern California) and now feared extinct.

Thorp, a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences since 1986, is a noted authority on bumble bees. In June he served as a key speaker at a public symposium on "The Plight of the Bumble Bees" at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. His topic: "Western Bumble Bees in Peril."

Thorp's Webinar he gave at UC Davis is a must-see, must-watch. You'll also want to check out the bumble bee work of Thorp and other scientists on the Xerces Society Web site.

Bumble bees need our protection.

As Thorp says: "“The loss of a native pollinator could strike a devastating blow to the ecosystem, economy and food supply."