|
The largest bumblebee you will see in early spring are the queens. Immediately after they emerge from their winter hibernation they will begin their search for nest sites and busily forage among the early spring flowers. These large, robust bees from the Bombus genus will have hair covering their back and abdomens in color patterns of black and yellow. Bumblebees are often mistaken for carpenter bees but are easily identified by their hairy abdomen while the carpenter bees abdomen is hairless and shiny. Part of the Apidae family, the bumblebee makes its presence known with its loud, almost melodious buzzing as it quickly collects pollen and searches out existing cavities to use for its nest. When searching for a nest the queen bumblebee can be seen flying low over the ground in weaving patterns in wooded area and open fields. Occasionally the bee will land, crawling in and out of grasses and fallen leaves. Since the most suitable areas for a bumblebees nest is an under ground chamber, the queen will check out old burrows of such animals as mice, moles or chipmunks.
When the queen bumblebee has chosen the area for her nest she will begin collecting moss, grasses and leaves, forming a soft ball of these materials inside the burrow. Then more of these materials are gathered and placed at the entrance. It is believed that this is done to camouflage the nest since there is an intense competition between and within this species for the best possible nesting sites. In fact, it is estimated that around ten percent of all nest are eventually taken over by other queens. When a second queen attempts to take over a nest that is already established, the nesting queen is forced to fight until one of the two are killed or submits to the take over advances of the other. While not protecting her nest site, a queen bumblebee can be observed hovering among flowers collecting clumps of pollen. These are taken back to the nest, where much like the solitary bee the queen will lay her eggs on the pollen. Both the pollen and eggs are covered with wax.
In four to five days the eggs will hatch with the new larvae feeding on the pollen. After a few more days they pupate in tough cocoons which they make themselves. Pupation last approximately ten days during which time the queen will chew away the wax that she had originally used to cover the egg and pollen. When the new adults emerge they are all sterile females that will take care of subsequent broods that hatch during the rest of the summer months. Each colony of bumblebees will continue to develop within the same burrow until late summer when the queen lays eggs that develop into fertile males and females. This group will leave the colony to mate with the fertilized females finding an area to hibernate in over the winter months. The remaining members of the colony, including the original queen, will die.
Of the two genera of bumblebees the second one, Psithyrus, is known to enter the nest of Bombus bumblebees dominating the workers and original queen. The Psithyrus queen will then lay her eggs among the original queens eggs and allow her young to be raised by the existing colony. If the Bombus queen is not killed, the invading queen will destroy any eggs she lays for the remainder of the season.
|
| |
