Bees galore
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010Many of us know about honey bees and orchard mason bees but what about other bees in our area?
The following website gives a host of information about bees of all kinds, including photos of each of the bees described.
http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/bees/
The website also has information on spiders and other insects if you’d like to find out even more about the insect world and the other crawling, creeping critters that inhabit this niche in our gardens.
Over the next few days I’ll post information about the various bees in our area.
Bumble Bees
Bumble bees are the first pollinators to emerge each spring and the last to disappear from gardens in late fall. Bumble bees have very plump bodies covered with dense fuzz. Scientists say their size and heat-conserving bodies help them stay warm. Bumble bees can shiver their flight muscles to warm themselves. It’s believed this is how they can fly and function at lower temperatures.
When not out collecting pollen bumble bees spend their time underground, nesting in colonies in cavities left behind by mice and other ground burrowing critters. Their nesting chambers only have one opening. Brian Griffin, author of “Humble Bumblebee” says bumble bees will nest in containers left out in the garden, such as an old cracked ceramic tea pot found in his own garden many years ago. Several local nurseries now carry bumble bee houses along with mason bee houses.
Each colony has a single queen. Each queen winters over to populate the new colony each year. Colonies are composed of a queen who lays eggs that become workers. At the end of the season she’ll produce drones and more queens. The drones fertilize the queens who fly off in search of places to hibernate to start up new colonies for the next year.
Bumble bees are used commercially to pollinate: cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, cane berries, melons and squash. These bees are able to work at temperatures below 50 degrees and also can work in very warm temperatures too. Bumble bees carry pollen in a concave surface on their hind legs, commonly called a pollen pocket. The hair on their bodies and legs captures pollen too. They work faster and visit more flowers per minute than a honey bee and can definitely carry more pollen.
Even though bees collect pollen for their own uses they are amazing pollinators because they move the pollen around on the plants, transferring it from pistils to stamens on individual blossoms but also moving it from plant to plant as they fly about on their gathering missions.
For more information on Bumble Bees check out the book “Humble Bumble Bee” by Brian Griffiths, found at local KRL branches.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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