To Catch a Queen Project
- bumblebuzz
- May 19
- 1 min read
There are four exotic Bumblebee species in New Zealand. One, Bombus subterraneus - the short haired bumblebee, is only found in the McKenzie Basin & parts of Southland. It is extinct in the UK and today it appears that population numbers are dwindling here in NZ.
In late 2024, a program was established by Entomologist Rudd Kleinpaste, the New Zealand Bumblebee Conservation Trust (NZBCT), and Otago University, involving primary school children and the communities of Tekapo, Twizel, and the McKenzie region. The aim is to educate about the life cycle of bumblebees and their critical importance. Projects are currently underway to support population growth in this region. Practical activities include sowing wildflower beds to provide essential food resources during critical periods, setting up live bumblebee hives for activity study, placing man-made wooden hives in school grounds to attract queens for new colony establishment, and creating ground holes and small wooden box homes to encourage hibernating queens.
Here is some of the work the children have done so far:
Small wooden boxes have been strategically placed on the school grounds to attract hibernating queen bumblebees.
In the spring of 2025, the children will initiate a program to identify various bumblebee species and gather data on their populations and other environmental factors. Ultimately, we aim to cultivate colonies of Bombus subterraneus off-site and reintroduce them to the area.
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