At our October 22nd meeting, with the season of bees and blooms coming to a close, it was fitting to have a vote for the 2026 Bee of the Year. In what turned out to be a very close competion between several nominated bees, it was Dan Thompson's nomination of the western bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis, that came out on top.

Every year by about February, after suffering through months of the abysmal gray Pacific Northwest rain chamber, I begin to wonder if I’ll ever see a bee again.

If a common name is any indication, these large bees have an unrivaled affinity for thistles. Their scientific name is a bit more puzzling. Melissodes translates to melissa, meaning "bee," and -odes, meaning "resembling"—so essentially "bee-like." The species name rivalis could mean "of the stream" or maybe "dweller of brooks," though I've mostly seen them in dry places. It also might hint at the word "rival." Like many scientific names, there's a mix of poetry and puzzlement.