{"id":37543,"date":"2015-07-15T12:41:57","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T16:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/wildwire\/?p=37543"},"modified":"2022-12-16T16:26:46","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T21:26:46","slug":"top-ten-things-you-didnt-know-about-bumble-bees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earthrangers.com\/EN\/US\/top-10\/top-ten-things-you-didnt-know-about-bumble-bees\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Ten Things You Didn\u2019t Know about Bumble Bees"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mmmm….wild blueberries and cranberries are delicious! We wouldn\u2019t be able to enjoy these delicious treats without the help of pollinators, like the bumble bee. The flowers on these berries are enclosed so it takes a bumble bee\u2019s long \u201ctongue\u201d to get to the plant\u2019s nectar. Bumble bees release the pollen on these flowers by \u201cbuzzing\u201d the muscles they use for flying. Some of this released pollen sticks to them and is transferred to other flowers, which pollinates the plants. Bumble bees are pretty amazing, and not just for their pollinating abilities. Check out this list of ten things you probably didn\u2019t know about bumble bees.<\/p>\n
1) \u00a0There are 46 species of bumble bees in North America<\/h1>\nCommon Eastern Bumblebee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bumble bees are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic tundra to deserts and forests. They are important pollinators of many plant species within the diverse ecosystems of North America!<\/p>\n
2) \u00a0Only female bumble bees have stingers<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
If you’ve ever been stung by a bumble bee it would have been a female since the males don’t have stingers.<\/p>\n
3) \u00a0Bumble bees eat pollen, nectar, and bee poop, yuck!<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
Bumble bees have a protein-rich diet of pollen and nectar, which sounds delicious, but their first meal isn\u2019t so appetizing. At the start of a bumble bee\u2019s adult life, they eat the feces of other bumble bees. This fecal matter has bacteria in it that help the bumble bee\u2019s immune system, protecting them from parasites.<\/p>\n
4) \u00a0Only the queen survives the winter<\/h2>\nBombus pratorum queen. Photo Credit: Flickr user, Martin Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bumble bee colonies die at the end of each growing season, only the queen survives to start a new colony in the spring. This is unlike honey bee colonies, where the queen and some members of the colony survive throughout the winter.<\/p>\n
5) Bumble bees don\u2019t mind the cold and they like the mountains<\/h2>\n
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Bumble bees go in search of food in temperatures as low as 0 C. They stay warm by vibrating their flight muscles to generate heat. Bumble bee diversity tends to be the highest around mountain ranges. Nahanni National Park Reserve, which is located in the Northwest Territories’ Mackenzie Mountains, has at least 13 documented species of bumble bees!<\/p>\n
6) Bumble bee tongues come in different sizes<\/h2>\n
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Bumble bee species have different lengths of tongues that match the flowers they feed on. This helps to reduce the competition for food between species because they aren\u2019t all feeding off of the same flowers. Bumble bees with long tongues can reach the nectar in long tubular flowers, while medium and shorter-tongued species collect nectar from smaller flowers.<\/p>\n
7) The cuckoo bumble bees are nest robbers<\/h1>\nCuckoo Bumble Bee. Photo Credit: Christopher Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Instead of foraging for pollen or starting their own colonies, cuckoo bumble bees will take over the nests of other bee species. Even though they are thieves, cuckoo bumble bee species are still important for biodiversity, and declines in their numbers can be a warning sign of change within the ecosystem. One rare cuckoo species, the Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee has been found as far north as Ivvavik National Park!<\/p>\n
8) Some plants trick bees into pollinating them<\/h2>\n
\nThere are plant species that rely on bees for pollination even though they contain no nectar and the bees can\u2019t get to their pollen. These plants have to “fool” the bees, getting them to come to them by using attractive scents, colors, and “guidance” markings that help lure the bees in. One flower that “fools” bees is the Venus’ Slipper (Calypso bulbosa). The Venus\u2019 Slipper is a delicate wild orchid that lives in the boreal forest and it is one of the first plants to flower in the spring.<\/p>\n
9) Bumble bees stay close to home<\/h2>\n
\nAfter foraging at various flowers, bumble bees will carry their collected pollen and nectar back to the nest to feed. The farthest they have been known to fly from the nest for foraging is 10 km.<\/p>\n
10) Bumble bees don\u2019t share their honey<\/h1>\nbumble bee hive. Photo credit, FLickr User Jem<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bumble bees only make a small amount of honey, which they eat themselves. It is honey bees that make lots of honey, enough for beekeepers to collect for us to eat.<\/p>\n
Bees are threatened by habitat loss, but you can help! Take action to protect bees by planting a pollinator garden<\/a>.<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n![\"bumble](\"\/EN\/US\/wp-content\/uploads\/bumble_bee_pink_flower.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Early](\"\/EN\/US\/wp-content\/uploads\/Early-Bumble-Bee-Bombus-pratorum-queen-flickr_credit-Martin-Cooper.jpg\")
![\"B](\"\/EN\/US\/wp-content\/uploads\/B-occidentalis_queen1-S-Cummings.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n![\"Cuckoo](\"\/EN\/US\/wp-content\/uploads\/cuckoo-bee_christopher_cooper.jpg\")
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