Where are rusty-patched bumble bees in town?

The small green circles on this map represent some of the locations where rusty-patched bumble bees have been sighted. This does not mean they cannot be found in other places-keep your eyes on the bees (instructions for taking pictures).

These bees are very rare outside of Northfield’s neighborhoods. With thousands of bees identified through a summer research project at St. Olaf surveying at Carleton’s Arboretum and several remnant prairies in the area, we only identified a handful of rusty patched bumble bees. No rusty patched bees were found outside of Northfield on protected remnant prairies.

Landowners near these in town areas have been busy planting pollinator friendly native plantings funded through Northfield’s People and Pollinators Lawns to Legumes program. We hope to see more pollinators in these areas as these plantings mature. Look out for the Lawns to Legumes signs marking gardens funded by this project.

What do rusty-patched bumble bees look like?

NOTE the difference between the queens and workers!

The bees below are not rusty patched bumble bees. They do not have yellow around the brown patch on their second segment.

Here are several more brown belted bees!