Yes, pollinator week is a thing, and more popular than ever! Pollinator Partnership has more on activities and the critical need to promote the health of our pollinators.
I’m in Colorado and have been seeing these really cool bumblebees with orange bands on our flowers. I finally got photos!
I searched online and discovered the common name ‘orange-banded bumblebee’. Ok, that sounded good. But then I tried to attach a scientific name to that.
Oops. Knowing the bees has orange bands is not enough–because several do! I got on a site called bumblebeewatch.org to submit my bee photos and get help with identification. First they suggested enlarging the bee photo.
I had two pretty good closeups–or so I thought. As I walked through the site’s specific identifications, I discovered these still don’t tell me all I need to know–like, is the face yellow? I think so…
I’ve narrowed the ID to either Hunt’s or Tricolored bumblebee. They will verify it for me. In the meantime, their excellent guide showed me what I need to look for in the future, as well as how to photography bees to get the best ID.
BTW, it was much easier for me to identify the flower—One-sided Penstemon, Penstemon secundiflorus… Practice with bees will help!
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