Bombus vancouverensis
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Bombus vancouverensis, the Vancouver bumblebee, is a common species of eusocial bumblebee of the subgenus Pyrobombus. B. vancouverensis inhabits mountainous regions of western North America, where it has long been considered as a synonym of Bombus bifarius, and essentially all of the literature on bifarius refers instead to vancouverensis. B. vancouverensis has been identified as one of the two species of bumblebee observed to use pheromones in kin recognition. The other is the frigid bumblebee, Bombus frigidus.
Bombus vancouverensis was first described by Ezra Townsend Cresson in the 1878 Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. It is a member of the order Hymenoptera and the family Apidae, which also includes orchid bees, honey bees, and bumblebees. A subspecies, originally named Bombus nearcticus, was named in 1888. B. vancouverensis expresses varying color forms... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kluane National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Vancouver Bumble Bee sighting in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 67th most-seen of the 161 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Vancouver Bumble Bee in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, against under 5% in October to May, the lowest months. That is one of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 190 mm in January.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Vancouver Bumble Bee sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Vancouver Bumble Bee sightings, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks ranks 10th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kluane National Park (Canada, about 40%), Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (United States, about 30%) and Glacier National Park (United States, about 20%).
Same genus: Bombus
The closest relatives of the Vancouver Bumble Bee that you can see in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (genus Bombus, Bumble Bees) are Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee (about 40%), Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumble Bee (about 10%) and Van Dyke's Bumble Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Vancouver Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (11 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
