The Western Bumble Bee is a medium sized (1-2 cm) bumble bee that has a band of yellow hair across the thorax (i.e. the middle part of the bee, between the head and the abdomen) at the base of the wings and almost always has a white-tipped abdomen. The Western Bumble Bee used to be one of the most common bumble bees found in western Canada (ranging from southern British Columbia, across southern Alberta and into Saskatchewan), but recent population declines due to habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticides, and competition with and diseases from agricultural bumble bees have made the species rare.

Bumble bees do not live in hives, instead most bumble bees make their nests underground, often using holes within decaying wood, openings in rotten logs, grassy mounds, or abandoned rodent burrows. Each spring, mated queens emerge from hibernation and set out to find nest sites to begin a new colony. Once the queen decides on a nest site, she lays eggs in the nest and goes out to forage for nectar and pollen. The life cycle of the Western Bumble Bee has four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. After four days, the eggs hatch and the queen feeds the larva on pollen and nectar. After two weeks, the bumble bee larva spin cocoons and pupate. It takes two weeks for the pupae to develop and hatch into adults, and the whole process to get from egg to adult takes about five weeks; this timeline can vary with temperature and food supply. The first adult bumble bees to emerge from the colony are female worker bees and they take over the foraging duties from the queen, and are also now in charge of feeding the larva. Later in the summer, once the colony has reached its maximum for worker bees, it then begins producing male bees and potential new queens. These males and new queens do not stay in the colony and instead they leave and go mate with similar bees from other colonies. The new queens mate before going into hibernation for the winter, so that when they emerge the next spring, they don’t need to bother finding a male and can get started laying eggs. The male bees, worker bees, and original queen all die in the fall.

The Western Bumble Bee is a generalist forager, which means that it can eat the nectar and pollen from many different types of flowers and is not dependent on a specific plant species for its food. Since the queens emerge early in the spring, the Western Bumble Bee needs early blooming flowers, as well as continued blooms through the summer and into the fall to ensure it has enough food to feed the colony for the entire time it is active. In addition, bumble bees need options in terms of different types of flowers to ensure that they get all the nutrients required to feed the growing baby bees (i.e. larva).

Here are three things you can do that will help the Western Bumble Bee, as well as other native pollinators.

1. Plant flowers – the two main things to remember are that bumble bees need flowers from early spring until fall and that they need a variety of different types of flowers. Whenever possible, it is always better to plant flowers that are native to where you live, rather than species that come from elsewhere. Check out pollinator guides to see what flowers are native to your area so you can make a list before going to the garden center.
2. Build a bumble bee house. Although bumble bees usually nest underground, sometimes they will use a bumble bee house instead. Plans for a bumble bee house can be found here or here, depending on which style of house you’d like to make.
3. Adopt a Western Bumble Bee. Your adoption will help Earth Rangers support Nature Conservancy Canada as they work to restore this important species throughout southern Saskatchewan.

Many thanks to Sarah Ludlow from the Saskatchewan Region’s Conservation Science Team at the Nature Conservancy of Canada for writing this article.

Meet the river otter, the most adorable (in our humble opinion) member of the weasel family! Amphibious river otters are known for their playful personalities in water and on land. Their short legs, webbed feet and waterproof fur allow them to enjoy swimming and floating, but because they don’t have blubber, they have to come ashore to rest, find shelter and travel between bodies of water. River otters make their homes in burrows by the shore, which gives them easy access to the water and their favourite foods: frogs, salamanders, clams, mussels and fish. Sadly, the habitat they rely on is disappearing across North America.

Sink or swim

Baby river otters start their lives in a den. They’re born in early spring and there are usually between one and three pups born in a litter. River otter pups stay with mom for at least a year (or until she has another litter). What does a river otter mama spend her days doing? Teaching her babies to swim, of course! As surprising as it might be, river otter pups aren’t born knowing how to swim. Before the pup takes its first lessons (at about 10-12 weeks old), the mama otter brings her baby everywhere – usually riding along on her tummy. We weren’t kidding when we said they were adorable!

They need our help!

Although they’re found in a wide range of habitats, from wetlands to rivers to shorelines, these spaces are disappearing across North America. Increasing agriculture and growing cities are just two of the threats to otter habitat, but for the river otters that live in the Saskatchewan River Delta, peat extraction (the process of digging up the rich layer of decayed organic matter called peat, found under marshes and wetlands) and the construction of upstream dams could cause even bigger problems.

That’s why Earth Rangers is working with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) on a project that will see an almost 4,000 km² area of the Saskatchewan River Delta permanently protected. The river delta is a series of connected wetlands and river channels that covers almost a million hectares in the heart of Saskatchewan – and it’s also one of the most biodiverse landscapes in Canada! It’s home to hundreds of species of plants, birds, fish, and mammals (like the river otter), which makes it even more important that we do what we can to protect it today. Do your part by adopting a river otter to help give the animals we love a safe place to call home for years to come!

It may feel like it’s worlds away, but Bahía San Antonio is a special place for Canadian populations of the Red Knot! Every winter this migratory shorebird makes the long journey south, using this Argentinian beach as a stopover site to rest up and refuel. But as more and more people use the beach, it’s getting harder for the animals that live there to find safe spaces to call home. That’s why we called on you, Earth Rangers, to help support researcher Patricia Gonzalez, her Fundación Inalafquen, and the Provincial Environmental Rangers, as they worked to protect Bahía San Antonio, and we’re so happy to report you’ve done an incredible job!

Thanks to the help of hundreds of Earth Rangers, Patricia Gonzalez and her team were able to accomplish some pretty amazing things! The rangers were able to prevent almost 100% of incidents of people disturbing shorebirds (through things like accidentally walking too close to their roosting sites), and when it comes to decreasing traffic of off-road vehicles, the team was able to reduce the number using the beach from 127 to just 6!

This incredible work would not have been possible without all your help, Earth Rangers – give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well done 🙂

The Red Knot and Patagonian Sea Lion Wildlife Adoptions Projects were in partnership with: