How the Métis Nation of Alberta is surveying land for signs of bumblebees at risk

This story is part of the Prairies Climate Change Project, a joint initiative between CBC Edmonton and CBC Saskatchewan that focuses on weather and our changing climate.

Roaming a stretch of land in Lamont County, members of the Métis Nation of Alberta's conservation and climate change department gather bumblebees in vials.

The aim is to determine which species call the area home, and which plants they prefer for gathering pollen.

Once captured, the bumblebees are put on ice. After they're counted, they're released back onto the land.

"We kind of just wander around until we see certain things in bloom, and then we might sit and wait a bit to see if anything lands there, or you might just come along to good activity on flowers," said Tiffani Harrison, conservation co-ordinator with Otipemisiwak Métis Government, the elected body which represents Métis people in Alberta.

The land being surveyed, about 70 kilometres east of Edmonton, is the MNA's Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA).

The Otipemisiwak Métis Government recently received $240,000 through Environment and Climate Change Canada for the bumblebee survey project, under funding earmarked for monitoring and restoring at-risk species.

In Canada, seven bumblebee species are at risk, and two of them are native to central Alberta: Bombus terricola — the yellow-banded bumblebee — and Bombus bohemicus, the gypsy cuckoo bumblebee.

The team has done seven surveys to date, finding around 800 bumblebees on the property. Of the total, 15 yellow-banded bumblebees and one gypsy cuckoo bumblebee have been identified.

"Detecting the presence of species at risk is a really important first step, so luckily we were able to do that very easily last year with minimal effort, just out of sheer luck," said Harrison, referring to a preliminary survey conducted in 2023.

She said the survey team is learning which plants the bees prefer, and about their nesting habits. The information will help the MNA develop a management plan for the IPCA to ensure the bumblebees don't disappear from the landscape.

Because of climate change, summers are arriving earlier, and are hotter and drier. That can have detrimental impacts on plants, animals and insects in nature — including bumblebees. 

"Very simply, bumblebees are not very heat-tolerant," said Jeremy Kerr, a professor of biology at the University of Ottawa.

"A long time ago — maybe 30 million years ago — [bumblebees] evolved under cool or tempered conditions and they have never really … evolved the capacity to do well in really hot weather."