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Bumble bee populations are in decline, despite efforts to provide abundant floral resources. A lack of knowledge about population dynamics at the colony level, specifically the dynamics of overwinter survival and colony establishment by queens, may mean that conservation efforts are misguided. I explore these two early life stages in an experimental and theoretical framework. My first chapter asks ... read morewhether larger or smaller queens are better during these life stages. I found that depending on the life stage and environmental context, the selective pressures on queen body size differ. I also present a novel framework for analyzing overwinter survival of bumble bee queens in the field. In my second chapter, I ask what is the most important life stage from a population viability standpoint. My results are in line with current conservation efforts in that colony growth was the most important vital rate. Future work should focus on incorporating environmental drivers of early life stages when modeling bumble bee populations.read less
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