Iowans can support bumble bees and learn about them.

In 2025, Iowa volunteers conducted nearly 500 bumble bee atlas surveys, tripling the previous year's total. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is organizing field days in July to train volunteers for this citizen science initiative, which assesses bumble bee species distribution, population changes, and habitat associations nationwide. Iowa is among 20 states involved in the Bumble Bee Atlas, a project by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation aimed at understanding and protecting nearly 50 North American bumble bee species.