Yellow-faced Bumble Bee

The yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) is a west coast native, the most abundant of 1600 native bees in California. They sport a fuzzy, black and yellow abdomen and are generalists, meaning that they are not limited to one (or even several) specific flowers but can utilize many sources of nectar and pollen. Ecologically speaking, bumble bees are important pollinators, specializing in wild flowers, agricultural crops, and flowers that grow in cooler climates such as Northern California. Many species of bees are listed as endangered in the U.S., and bumble bees have been threatened due to pesticide exposure. Pesticides are widely used in the production of agricultural crops to destroy common pests, and bumble bees are caught in the crossfire as consumers of flower nectar (pollination is a by-product of bee feeding). Bee conservation is a hot topic due to their role in pollinating crops. Hopefully conservation efforts can bring our local yellow-faced bumble bees off the endangered species list in due course.