READERS WRITE
FASCINATED BY BUMBLE BEES I was fascinated by the article on rusty patched bumble bees in the Summer edition. I initially saw the “thumbtack” on this one and got excited, but I am guessing it is not a rusty patched but a tricolored bumble bee (Bombus ternarius). We work very hard all summer to have pollinator-friendly food flowers at all times of the season. By the fall, we have hundreds of these swarming our beds. There is also a very large bumble bee version that is less numerous but very fun to watch, especially on spiderwort flowers. We do not see honey bees, however. Jeff Verdoorn Harshaw
Calvin Booth, age 11 Two Rivers
FIND POSTERS FROM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM In the Summer issue, a reader inquired about obtaining the Game Fish of Wisconsin pictures (Spring 2021) in full-size poster form, and your response was they are no longer available. You can purchase beautiful Wisconsin fish posters by their family groups
WOOD TURTLE CLASSIFICATION Editor’s note: In the Summer issue story “Preserve, protect, appreciate” about Wisconsin State Natural Areas, the author should have noted wood turtles are a state-threatened species, not state-endangered. Female wood turtles don’t lay eggs until they’re 14 to 18 years old and then lay only four to 17 eggs a year. Losing even one adult female a year can potentially sink small, local populations. Since 2014, the DNR and partners have studied and monitored wood turtles and used the lessons learned for conservation strategies
“Yes, this is a tricolored bumble bee. It can be identified by its very distinctive abdominal coloration of yellow, orange, orange, yellow, black, black. The one in the photo is a female, which we can tell because she is carrying pollen on her legs (the big orange blob).”
or a large poster of all fishes of Wisconsin from the UW Zoological Museum. There are also posters of Wisconsin birds, bats and freshwater mussels — charge.wisc.edu/zoology/items.aspx. Jean Unmuth, retired, DNR water resources Sauk City
to protect nests from predators and reduce turtles killed crossing roadways. They’ve created or restored more than 20 nest sites guarded with electric fencing and communal nest boxes protecting over 100 individual nests. DNR wildlife biologists, U.S. Forest Service, Turtles for Tomorrow and private individuals also maintain similar sites on public and private land. Funding is secured to continue this work, and the first year of expanded monitoring is being completed through collaboration among the DNR, West Virginia University and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Send your letters to: Readers Write, WNR magazine, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Or email dnrmagazine@wisconsin.gov.
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wnrmag.com
ANDREW BADJE
YOUNG READER HOPES TO HELP In “Woodland Dunes property holds promise for rare bumble bee” (Summer 2021), I enjoyed reading about the rusty patched bumble bee and that they have to get rid of the honeysuckle to make a proper home for the bees to live in. I also live close to Woodland Dunes, and I hope to help out one day.
DNR conservation biologist Eva Lewandowski, author of the rusty patched story and coordinator of the statewide Bumble Bee Brigade, confirms the bee ID and encourages participation in the B3 citizen-based monitoring project — wiatri.net/inventory/bbb. She replies:
