Friday's Pollinator of the Day: Eastern bumble bee. One of the 10 species of bumble bees found in Missouri and the 50 found in North America. All are very important pollinators and are better than honey bees at pollinating crops like tomatoes, cranberries, and blueberries. Though the European honey bees have been getting a lot of press about their disappearance, many of our native bumble bees have been declining. One species, Franklin’s bumble bee, may be extinct. The last siting for Franklin’s Bumble bee was in 2006.