Bumblebees Flashcards
How do the queens overwinter?
Underground in small cavities, usually in rotting wood or under loose soil.
What do the queens do in spring?
Emerge, search for a nest site and begin foraging for pollen and nectar.
Where are nest sites usually found?
Above ground in tall grass or between man-made structures.
Underground in abandoned rodent burrows.
What are worker bees?
The queen’s first eggs emerge as adults and serve as her worker bees. All female.
They gather pollen and nectar and feed the brood.
What happens to the colony in summer?
Grow until end of summer. At the end, they switch from producing worker bees to producing new queens and males (drones).
New queens and drones leave the nest to find mates from other colonies.
End of summer - colony dies off. Only new queens find a place to spend the summer.
Difference between honey bee and bumblebee
Honey bees are smaller, has a barbed stinger so can only sting once and then dies.
Bumble bees are larger, have a smooth stinger can sting many times.
Both have 2 pairs of wings, and pollen baskets on their legs.
How is the bumblebee segmented?
Head, thorax, abdomen. Abdomen is further segmented.
How can you tell if the bumblebee is male or female?
Male: 7 abdominal segments, antenna has 13 segments, leg is thinner, they do not have pollen baskets, harder to identify.
Female: 6 abdominal segments, antenna has 12 segments, leg is wider with pollen baskets.
