Study will look at bees in burned areas

Over the past 20 years, from Yellowstone National Park to Glacier, large wildfires have continuously transformed the landscape. Now a Montana State University bee researcher has plans for a three-year study of the burns and the bees and plants that grow back in a post-fire world across western Montana.

“We’re trying to understand the process of recovery in these landscapes,” ecologist Laura Burkle said in a recent interview.

That recovery often starts with flowering plants and the multitude of bee species that pollinate them. Burkle said the study will look at a variety of factors in post-fire recovery. For example, do burned landscapes east of the Continental Divide recover differently than those west of the Divide? And while bees are vital to plant pollination and health, how do they find these burned areas?

Some species, Burkle surmises, simply survive the blaze — they nest underground where they can be safe from all but the hottest fires. Others seek refuge in deep wood cavities that might escape the blaze, but some species simply die and are replaced by bees that fly in from unburned areas. Some species of bumblebees are known to fly for several kilometers, she noted.

Overall, little is known about bees in Montana, Burkle said. There is no complete species list, and some species that live here haven’t even been identified.

Honeybees are not native to Montana, she said. If people see a honeybee, it is likely from a beekeeper — there are few wild honeybee colonies in the state. Burkle said her study will look at a variety of burned landscapes, from recently burned regions to areas that are more than 20 years old. Field work will begin this summer.

The hope is to formulate strategies to best manage lands after fires.