Bumble Bee Basics

There are almost 250 species of bumblebees across
the world, found predominantly, but not
exclusively, in the Northern Hemisphere. There
are over twenty different species of bumblebees
in Britain, but only six species make up the
vast majority of sightings in Britain today.
These are the Common Carder bee, Red-tailed
bumblebee, Early Nesting bumblebee, Buff-tailed
bumblebee, White-tailed bumblebee and the Small
Garden bumblebee.

Bumblebees are social bees, meaning that the
queen will produce a colony that increases in
size, as opposed to solitary bees, who will only
lay a few eggs each year in small nests. All
bumblebees, apart from the queen, only live from
spring to autumn.

The queen will hibernate over winter, usually
underground, and emerge in spring to start
looking for a place to nest. This could be a
small hole underground, perhaps a nest abandoned
by a mammal. It will likely be located quite near
a good source of pollen and nectar, because this
will be needed to feed the colony as it
develops.

Once the queen has the nest to her liking, she
will build a wax honey pot to fill with pollen
and nectar. This will act as her food source
while she incubates her eggs. Then she will form
a mound of pollen upon which to lay her eggs,
covering them with a waxy secretion. The queen
will brood over the eggs, using her body heat to
keep them warm and incubate them.

The eggs hatch in a few days, and the queen will
begin foraging among nearby plants for pollen to
feed the larvae until they pupate. Once the
pupae emerge as adult bumblebees, they will
become worker bees. From then on, the queen will
concentrate on laying more eggs, and the workers
will forage and help incubate them. In this
manner, the colony increases in size over the
summer months.

Toward the end of summer, the queen will start
laying some unfertilised eggs which will become
male bees, and some of the regular fertile eggs
will become new queens. When the new queens are
mature and ready to mate, the old queen will
die. After mating, the males die and the new
queens will find a place to hibernate for the
winter so they can start the cycle anew the
following spring.

Bumblebees have been around for millions of
years, but their numbers are declining
dramatically. Just within the past several
decades, two species have gone extinct in
Britain. They are important pollinators of
wildflowers and crops, and our world would be a
very different place - and far fewer humans
would survive - without them. It is in our best
interests to help their numbers thrive.

Bumblebees are generally harmless. They can,
but usually won't, sting unless they are
provoked or disturbed. However, if they are
causing problems near your home, we can help.
Because bumblebees are so vitally important to
us all, we will try to re-home the bees if at
all possible, rather than destroy them.


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Young's Pest Control is always happy to help, no
matter the problem and no matter the size. We
can deal with any pest problems you may have or
furnish advice 24 hours a day. Please call 0161
776 9832 or visit
http://www.youngspestcontrol.co.uk/ or
http://www.pestcontrol247.co.uk


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