Bumble Bees at Bodega Bay Thar’s gold in them thar hills. And
also bumble bees. If you visit the Sonoma County coastal town of
Bodega Bay, and drive up to Bodega Head overlooking the ocean,
you’ll see a carpet of gold flowers known as coastal goldfields
or Lasthenia minor. And you’re certain to see bumble bees
nectaring those flowers. Noted bumble bee expert Robbin Thorp,
emeritus professor at UC Davis, says the most common species of
bumble bee at Bodega is the yellow face bumble bee, Bombus
vosnesenskii. The second most common? Bombus bifarius.
Goldfields are natives and so are bumble bees. Goldfields belong
to the Asteraceae family, also known as the aster, daisy or
sunflower family. Want to learn more about bumble bees? Bumble
bees are very much in the news. Thorp wrote a piece for a UC
Berkeley publication. He recently addressed the Smithsonian
Institute on the plight of the Western bumble bees and gave a
Webinar at the UC Davis Department of Entomology on Franklin's
bumble bee, an insect he fears may be