Bumble Bee Blitz

Bumble Bee Blitz July 17-July 21 2017 Save the Date! Come out and help look for the possibly extinct Franklin’s bumble bee (Bombus franklinii), and the rare Western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis) on Mt. Ashland and in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument this summer. No experience necessary! Armed with nets and viewing jars we will follow the flowers and keep our hopes up that we’ll find Franklin’s bumble bee, a bumble bee that hasn’t been seen since Dr. Robbin Thorp’s last sighting on Mt. Ashland in 2006.

Jeff Dillon, Endangered Species Division Manager with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service explains the task this way: “Once again, we will be spending time in the Ashland area searching for mainly Bombus franklini but also Bombus occidentalis. This year we plan to spend two full days up on Mt. Ashland (Tuesday/Wednesday), a day over at the Hobart Bluff area (Thursday), and potentially part of a day at Grizzly Peak (Friday morning). This will occur the week of July 17 to July 21, 2017. Some of us may get there early enough to chase a few bumble bees Monday afternoon at Mt. Ashland depending on our travel time (sort of a warm up for the big week). As before, all are invited to participate – all ages and all experience levels. If you have any questions this early on, feel free to email me or give me a call. I’ll be sending out reminder emails in the coming months.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jeffrey A. Dillon, Endangered Species Division Manager US Fish and Wildlife Service Phone: 503.231.6179 Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office Fax: 503.231.6195 2600 SE 98th Avenue, Suite 100 Email: Jeffrey_Dillon@fws.gov Portland, Oregon 97266 http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are interested in joining the Bumble Bee Blitz let Jeff know and he can put you on an email update list.

Viewing jars like these will be used to identify bees in the field. A bee/butterfly net will also be needed.