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Survey Results
In 2005, ANHC bumble-watchers surveyed bumblebees during May and June in planted gardens (vegetable and/or flower) and natural sites. Participants conducted a total of 123 garden surveys and 27 natural site surveys over that time period. Most surveys were conducted in Pulaski County, followed by Faulkner and White Counties.
The bumblebees most commonly reported by bumble-watchers were the two-spotted bumblebee (Bombus bimaculatus) and the impatient bumblebee (B. impatiens). Both species dominated survey observations from garden and natural sites. An important distinction among Arkansas bumblebees is their tongue-length. Knowing whether a species has a short or long tongue can give you information as to what plants that bee likes to feed from. Short-tongued bumblebees prefer plants with short floral tubes such as Coreopsis or lavender. Long-tongued bumblebees specialize on plants with long floral tubes such as foxglove or bee balm. Two-spotted and impatient bumblebees have short-tongues.
Long-tongued bumblebees, like the American bumblebee (B. pennsylvanicus) were seen less frequently and were mostly reported from natural sites. These observations suggest that the plants present in most gardens and natural sites catered to shorter-tongued bees. These preliminary results may reflect a real lack of resources for long-tongued bees and have implications for their conservation.
The survey also generated new distribution records for a number of bumblebee species. All bumblebees surveyed in Faulkner, Grant, and Pulaski Counties represented new records for those counties. Of course, these bumblebees were here before this survey effort, it is just no one bothered to document them in these counties.
