There are lots of things to love about bumblebees, but the Latin name for the genus is the best: "Bombus."
These enormous bees are every bit deserving of a name implying large, slow-flying bombers packing a powerful punch. But while the punch is rarely thrown, the insect is one of nature's most interesting bugs.
Bumblebees are excellent pollinators that report for duty before the end of the mason bees' short spring spurt and stay busy through the summer.
But there's more to the bumblebee than a lot of deep-bass buzzing. For example, did you know:
Although the sound of a bumblebee's wing beat is ominous, most are not aggressive and will attack only after extreme provocation. Lawn mowers probably kill many, but they still won't attack unless the nest is actually jostled. I recall once stepping on one barefooted and it: (a) was definitely extreme provocation and (b) resulted in a sting far more painful than that of a wasp or honeybee.
Bumblebees nest in all sorts of dark holes, including old mouse holes and snake lairs. A queen may search all day long for up to two weeks for a nest site, hovering and inspecting a hole from all angles for as long as an hour.
Bumblebees, like most of their cousins, die in the fall, except for young, fertilized queens.
Bumblebees incubate their eggs like birds for the first few days after laying them.
Bumblebee fuzz (hairs, not feathers or down) keeps bees so warm that some species thrive as far north as the Arctic circle.
There are more than three dozen bumblebee species in western North America and more than 100 worldwide.
The bumblebee queen emerges from hibernation and immediately finds a good nest site. She then gathers materials such as hair, feathers, wool and moss and builds a chambered cup.
After collecting nectar (for energy) and pollen (proteins for egg development), she fills part of one chamber with the goodies and lays half a dozen or so eggs in another chamber.
The new bees emerge as workers after a few days, and she lays more eggs while they begin building more chambers and gathering more pollen.
Thus the summer goes, the queen now home all the time laying eggs and the workers working -- some are just workers, some are drones.
Toward summer's end, the queen starts laying new queen eggs and some of the workers also begin laying eggs. She destroys theirs as she finds them, and a battle ensues, with the queen ultimately exiled from the nest to await her fate.
Drones mate with emerging new queens, and then the drones and the workers also die.
The new queens carefully find hibernation locations that will keep them dry and protected over winter.
Many won't make it, but some will.
And the cycle begins again.
-- Bill Monroe
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