Project Highlights
Nest Quest 2024 Season Highlights
Thank you!
We are so grateful for all of you that made this first year of Nest Quest a success. In 2024, we had 11 dedicated volunteers searching for bumble bee nests, for a total of 87.5 hours. We had a team of 5 staff members that searched for an additional 108.75 hours - making for a total of 196.25 survey hours. That’s equal to 8 full days of nest searching!
Bee Lab staff on a Nest Quest. Photo credit: Elise Bernstein
Survey Sites
We surveyed in four county parks: Lebanon Hills Regional Park, Lake Elmo Park Reserve, Hyland Lake Park Reserve, and Crow Hassan Park Reserve. Each park had two 1.5 hectare plots where volunteers were nest searching.
Lebanon Hills Regional Park
Lake Elmo Park Reserve
Hyland Lake Park Reserve
Crow Hassan Park Reserve
Survey Results
We found a total of six nests this year. Five of them were Bombus impatiens, or the common eastern bumble bee, and one of them was Bombus griseocollis, or the brown-belted bumble bee. All nests were found in prairies.
Image credit: Bombus impatiens nest at Crow Hassan Riverbend Group Camp by Sami Dolan (left), Bombus griseocollis surface nest at Hyland Prairie by Elise Bernstein (right)
Three nests were found at Hyland Prairie - two common eastern and one brown-belted.
One nest was found at Lebanon Hills Equestrian 2 - common eastern bumble bee.
One nest was found at Crow Hassan 2 - common eastern bumble bee. One nest was found incidentally at Crow Hassan Riverbend Group Camp - common eastern bumble bee.
From left to right: Map of nest locations at Hyland Prairie, Lebanon Hills Equestrian 2, Crow Hassan Park Reserve. Red icons indicate location of the bumble bee nests.
Honorable Mentions
Volunteer with the most hours:
Kevin McKinney
Site with the most hours:
Crow Hassan #1
Nest Excavations
We successfully excavated three underground bumble bee nests that are currently being dissected so we can assess colony size. We are looking for any evidence of predation or parasites living in the nest, as well as recording wing measurements from any workers that were left in the nests at the end of the colony cycle to assess the nutritional health of the colony.
Jayden Peterson next to an excavated Bombus impatiens nest at Crow Hassan Riverbend Group Camp. Photo credit: Elise Bernstein.
Dissecting the Bombus impatiens nest from Crow Hassan Riverbend Group Camp in the lab. Photo credit: Rebecca Zerlin
What’s next for Nest Quest?
The Nest Quest team is working on analyzing the data from the 2024 field season. We conducted detailed habitat assessments and collected soil samples around the nest sites and are learning more about the areas bumble bees choose to nest.
We will be back out at Hyland, Crow Hassan, Lake Elmo, and Lebanon Hills next year to find more nests. Next year we will also be radio tagging bees to follow them back to the nest!