THREATS TO TEXAS BUMBLEBEES: Our native bees are in 
danger [08 “…like bumblebees.”]… ahead on Passport to Texas. 

This is Passport to Texas

We all know about colony collapse disorder whereby 
colonies of European honeybees seem to vanish. 

05—Less well known are the threats facing a lot of our native bumblebees. 

Michael Warriner is an invertebrate biologist with a soft spot 
for native bumblebees. Like other native wildlife species in 
Texas, habitat loss is taking its toll on native bumblebees. 

09—Bumblebees need open, flower-rich habitat—like grasslands. And, a lot 
of that habitat’s been converted to agriculture.

Warriner says pesticide use is another concern, but the 
threats to these big black and yellow insects doesn’t stop 
there.

12—And also, there’s been the importation of bumblebees from Europe 
into this country which has brought in parasites and diseases that may be 
impacting them. So, there’s a lot of concern how they’re faring in North 
America.

One of the threats to Texas bumblebees might actually be 
honeybees, which have colonies in the tens of thousands 
compared to the hundreds of insects in a bumblebee colony.

19—Honeybees have these tens of thousands of workers, and so they can 
go out and monopolize a flower resource—like nectar or pollen—and that 
reduces what’s available for our native bees. And there’s some research 
that suggests that the presence of honeybees in natural sites can reduce 
native bees.

We’ll have the potential impact from bumblebee decline 
tomorrow.

That’s our show for today…The WR program supports our 
series…For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti




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