ARCTIC BEES

A warming landscape

The Arctic is an extraordinary landscape, with extreme temperature fluctuations, low primary productivity, and a short summer season. The region is also warming faster than anywhere else on the planet, to the detriment of the organisms that live in this unusual habitat. Bumble bees (genus Bombus, family Apidae) are particularly well-adapted to cooler climates and are the only bee group that lives in many parts of the Arctic. We are working with additional researchers at UC Riverside (see Collaborators, below) to explore how bumble bees have adapted to life in the Arctic and how these adaptations might influence their resilience in the face of climate change. Assistant Specialist Kristal Watrous is also studying plant-pollinator interactions in this under-studied region, including examinations of diet breadth, phenology, and foraging behavior in Alaskan pollinators.

Read about our research in the New York Times' Science Section here

Watch Dr. Woodard's New York Times - Science Facebook Live interview here

Watch UCR's short documentary about the project here:

Arctic landscape: the Brooks Range, Alaska. Photo by Michelle Duennes.

Wild blueberry: a Vaccinium sp. that is pollinated by Arctic bumble bees. Photo by Michelle Duennes.

Conversing about strategy: M. Duennes (left) and S. Woodard (right) discuss the collecting plan in the Brooks Range, AK. Photo by Sean Nealon©.

Taking a sip: a bumble bee (B. centralis) drinks nectar from Hedysarum alpinum. Photo by Michelle Duennes.

Arctic botany: Assistant Specialist K. Watrous is leading a project on Arctic pollination. Photo by Sean Nealon©.

The collaborative team: members of the B. polaris project, plus J. Gorman and K. Orlinksy (NYT) and B. Woodard, and S. Nealon (UCR).

How Bees Keep Warm

Bumble bees are capable of regulating their body temperature, and this is one mechanism that allows them to survive in the Arctic. Here is a video clip from Life in the Undergrowth, produced by Sir David Attenborough, showing the special ability of bumble bee queens to warm up for flight.