Polar Bumble Bee Expedition days 3 & 4: Arctic circle to marion creek

Day 3 - Arctic Circle 6/30
We spent the day in and near Arctic Circle. Bumble bees were foraging on the fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium, Onagraceae) right around camp. The dominant species were Bombus mixtus & frigidus. After a bout of catching nearby bees we ventured down to Fish Creek just south of camp to collect more bees. We found a bunch of repeat species on the fireweed, and another target species (Bombus occidentalis) visiting the wild rose (Rosa acicularis). Some of our crew also ventured up to more open tundra-like habitat to get oriented with the vegetation up there. We did more bee collecting and processing, and were getting into more of a camp routine by the end of the day.


Day 4 -  Arctic circle to Marion Creek (Coldfoot) 7/1
We packed up camp and headed out, stopping along the Dalton Highway to collect more bees, mostly visiting alpine sweetvetch (Hedysarum alpinum, Fabaceae). We saw wolf prints, and collected three species of ants in the genus Formica. We stopped for gas in Coldfoot, then set up camp at Marion Creek. There were very few flowers blooming in and around the campground, so we decided to check out a trail to a waterfall in hopes of finding more flowers and thus more bees. Unfortunately the trail got more boggy as we hiked and flowers were sparse up higher, so we didn’t go all the way to the waterfall. When we got back to camp we drove north from the campground and found a large patch of wild sweetpea (Hedysarum mackenzii, Fabaceae) with a lot of bumble bees! Jim Gorman and Katie Orlinksy, reporter and videographer with the NY Times, arrived around dinner and we chatted with them, updating them on our trip to date. After dinner a rainstorm kicked up, soaking a few tents and a number of us as we scrambled to get things packed away for the evening. Hollis and Michelle finished bee sample collection in the back of the BeeHemoth, grateful for the canopy but still cramped and a bit wet.