Bombus huntii
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Bombus huntii is a species of bumblebee. It is native to western North America, where it occurs in western Canada and the United States as far east as Ontario and Minnesota, and in Mexico as far south as the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It is known commonly as the Hunt bumblebee or Hunt's bumblebee. This bee's whole genome has been recently sequenced as part of the Beenome100 project.
This bee lives in desert scrub, prairies, and meadows. In the southern part of its range in Mexico it lives in pine ecosystems and it can be found at high elevations, such as the tops of tall volcanoes. The bee is active in summer and fall, and in Mexico it flies throughout much of the year. It nests underground in colonies consisting of a queen, workers, males, and new queens. Colonies only last one-year, with only mated queens overwintering.
Food plants visited by this species include rabbitbrush, thistles, sunflowers, penstemons, phacelias, currants, rudbeckias, and clovers. This species has experienced declines, but it is still one of the more common bees of western North America.
This bumblebee is susceptible to certain viruses that infect honey bees, such as Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV) and Deformed Wing Virus (DWV). Experiments suggest that this and other native species make efficient pollinators of crop plants such as tomatoes, and that commercial rearing would be a viable alternative to introducing non-native bees for the purpose. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hunt's Bumble Bee sighting in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 50th most-seen of the 160 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hunt's Bumble Bee in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to April, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hunt's 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.
6th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Hunt's Bumble Bee sightings, Yellowstone National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca (Mexico, about 30%), Grand Canyon National Park (United States, about 20%) and Rocky Mountain National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Bombus
The closest relatives of the Hunt's Bumble Bee that you can see in Yellowstone National Park (genus Bombus, Bumble Bees) are Vancouver Bumble Bee (about 10%), Red-Belted Bumble Bee (about 10%) and Nevada Bumble Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hunt's Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Yellowstone National Park (21 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.
