DOI: 10.5061/dryad.gqnk98sxt
title: Answering key bumble bee conservation questions by studying discovered wild nests: A Bombus affinis case study

description: The nesting ecology of wild bumble bees is not well resolved, but
 information learned from discovered nests can be of great conservation
 value. Data collected at nests on foraging patterns, caste-specific
 behavior, and health (e.g., pathogens) is invaluable for understanding
 bumble bee behavior and ecology, but difficult to decipher solely from
 foraging observations away from the nest. Wild nests are often found
 opportunistically, and due to a lack of standardized guidance on data
 collection, the information collected alongside nest discoveries is often
 idiosyncratic. Here we provide a framework for data collection when nests
 are discovered to ensure the data are as complete as possible and
 comparable across studies. To meet these goals, we provide an action plan
 which includes key conservation questions and methodological guidelines
 both for in-situ data collection and post season nest excavation. This
 plan is ordered by increasing complexity of data collection methods and
 includes suggestions on how to report findings. To illustrate our
 framework, we provide an example with recently discovered Bombus affinis
 (rusty patched bumble bee) nests. Through observations at B. affinis
 nests, we discovered novel patterns of activity, including changing
 activity levels over time, the timing of male and gyne production,
 variable timing in nest senescence, and  associations of nests
 with past rodent activity. Post-senescence nest excavation allows the
 estimation of colony size and caste numbers, pest incidence, and provides
 an opportunity to examine nest material for stressors (e.g., pesticides).
 Although individual nest discoveries may be of limited value in forwarding
 conservation strategies, and it may not be feasible for all teams to
 collect all data types at all discovered nests, the aggregate collections
 of many similar datasets can be of critical importance for species of
 conservation concern.
description: Data was collected by conducting observations of<em> B.
 affinis </em>nests as described in the main text. Processing of raw
 data conducted as shown in the attached R script. 
description: # Answering key bumble bee conservation questions by studying discovered
 wild nests: A Bombus affinis case study
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gqnk98sxt](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gqnk98sxt) ## Description of the data and file structure Data was collected conducting several 10-minute observations of wild *Bombus affinis* nests as detailed in the main text. Data represents observations of castes of bumble bees entering or exiting the observed nests and details the number of individuals observed. ### Files and variables Inside the .zip file are 3 primary files. **GP_Data.csv** - this represents data collected by Genevieve Pugesek while observing a nest in the Madison, Wisconsin area. It contains columns for date, the direction of movement of observed individuals ("activity"; either in or out of the colony), the caste of the observed individuals, a column for summarizing the concatenation of activity + caste, and a count of the activity observed. **LaX_Data.csv** - similar to GPData, this represents observed counts of individuals from a nest in LaCrosse. Besides for not having the "group" column, all of its columns are the same as GP_Data.csv. \**01a-rpbb-nest-example-figure-3.R **- this is the script used to wrangle (primarily summarize) and visualize the data to create Figure 3 as in the main document. ## Code/software platform aarch64-apple-darwin20 arch aarch64 os darwin20 system aarch64, darwin20 status major 4 minor 4.1 year 2024 month 06 day 14 svn rev 86737 language R version.string R version 4.4.1 (2024-06-14) nickname Race for Your Life