Queen Quest

Queen Quest is a bumble bee queen phenology project. It is a joint effort between UNL’s Bumble Boosters team, University of Minnesota’s Bee Squad, and citizen scientists to track first instances of bumble bee queen sightings in the spring. Little is known about the long-term and cyclical effects of climate on bumble bee populations. A key project objective is to determine the relationship and long-term impacts of climate on bumble bees.

The scientific objectives of the Queen Quest program are to:

1. Determine the phenology of spring bumble bee queen emergence.
2. Determine which flowers bumble bee queens visit in the early spring.
3. Determine long-term climate impacts on bumble bee populations and distribution in North America.