Bumblebees are charming and fascinating creatures. They are also important insect pollinators. In addition to being economically important to humans, bumblebees and other native bees and insects are responsible for maintaining healthy natural communities. The continuing reports of declines in pollinator abundance, reductions in their range size, and local extinctions of pollinators are of great concern. We will discuss how human activities negatively affect bumblebees and native insects, and consider strategies to help native bees. We also will give an overview of our pollinator field work and share how we involved CU students in our research.

Carol Kearns and Diana Oliveras have studied Front Range pollinators since 2001. Carol has a Ph.D. in pollination ecology and Diana has a Ph.D. in plant and insect mating systems. Both served as faculty members at the University of Colorado Boulder. They have published papers on Front Range pollinators and have hosted many talks and workshops on pollination. They both think bumblebees are the “charismatic megafauna” of the insect pollinators.