Can YOU ID This Bumble Bee

It’s #WildlifeWednesday, so I thought I’d share with you a little video capture of a Bumble bee we discovered collecting pollen from a freshly bloomed white wild indigo plant near Devil’s Lake’s Roznos Meadow.

Did you know that Wisconsin is home to 20 of the 250 known species of bumble bee? In 2017 our native rusty-patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) became the first federally protected bumble bee species. Once common, they have all but disappeared over 90% of their range. In fact, it’s getting harder to find many species of insects these days which doesn’t bode well for any of us when you think about it…

Can you ID this Merrimac Preserve Bumble bee? Here’s a chart from the University of Wisconsin to help you out. We’ll have our guess tomorrow over on our Facebook page.

Derrick Mayoleth

For nearly 2 decades the Skillet Creek blog has focused on 3 main goals; To inspire you to visit and explore the Devil’s Lake region, to help you get the most your visit by sharing tips, events, and other helpful information. Lastly to advocate for our environment & wildlife and talk about how we can keep our natural areas amazing now and into the future! That last goal can sometimes cause controversy, but it’s the only way we can accomplish the first two. – Derrick Mayoleth, Owner.