Honey Bee and Bumble bee
To begin with lets take a look at a bumble bee and her distant cousin the honey bee , with whom she is most often confused. Unlike the honey bee the humble bumble is gentle and slow. As she trundles around the garden collecting pollen andnectar she is quite different to her streamlined relative who dashes about everywhere. Even her body shape is different . The bumble is round and furry and not at all like her more wasp shaped cousin. There are three kinds of bumble bee, the large Queen bee , the smaller imperfectly formed female worker bee and the tiny male or drone bee . All are seen at different times of year. Only the Queen and the worker bees have a sting .
Bumble Bees
Facts To Know About Bumble Bees.
* Because they live in small nests bumble bees never swarm - so you can encourage a nest or two in the garden without fear of this happening.
* Bumble bees do not produce enough honey for commercial use, just a few grams at a time to feed their young.
* Not all bumble bees have a sting. Drones (smaller male bees that hatch in mid summer ) have no sting at all.
* A bumble bees biggest enemy by far is a man armed with a pesticide spray. Like every other form of wildlife they are under serious threat from the chemicals we pour on the land.
* Bumble bees are much less aggressive than honey bees. Generally they will not attack a human at all, unless their life is under threat. Don't wave your arms wildly in their presence, stand quietly and once they smell you are not a flower with pollen they will move gently away.
* Bumble bees do not lose their sting and die if they use it, as a honey bee will.
* Encourage the bumble bee in your garden or farm and she will repay your kindness by pollinating your flowers, fruit and vegetables and giving you an excellent set on your blossom.
Bumble Bee collection Nectar
When the drones hatch on mid Summer the sudden increase in bee numbers frightens people who are nervous about insects. But remember these drone bees have no sting and they won't swarm.
What to do if you find a Nest
* Try not to disturb it. If its in an awkward place try to put up with it for a few weeks. Remember it will die out with the first frosts and can then be safely removed .
* If you want to help the bees let the lawn grow a little longer and cut it a little higher so the clover remains to feed the bees with nectar.
* One tip - should the bees be nesting under a wooden building they often seem to exit on the most inconvenient space. Open another exit, perhaps on another side of the shed and leave it for a few days for the bees to find. Then block up the old exit. Removing a nest to a temporary cardboard hive, closing it at dusk for removal and relocation to a new site is sometimes possible. But you need an experienced bee-keeper with protective clothing and veil to do this delicate job.
The Life Cycle of the Bumble Bee.
Every Autumn as the first frosts begin the mated young queens seek out a place to hibernate in safety. If you come across a live but sleepy bee in a pile of leaves in Winter don't damage it. Its not dying, just in a deep cold sleep like a hedgehog. Put it back where you found it and cover it gently against the cold.
In the first warm days of Spring you may see the large queens flying busily about the early bulbs and flowers. These large slow bees are searching for nectar and pollen to turn into honey and food for their newly hatching brood. So the organic gardener plants lots of pollen producing flowers and leaves an unmown patch of early dandelions in the wild garden or hedgerow to feed the young queens.
The queen will locate a suitable place to build her nest. There are over 200 types of bumble bee and they look for a variety of sites. Most common are the leaf litter in a hedge bottom, an old mouse hole, a cool dark place under a large stone or under the wooden floor of a garden shed or other building. Because the bumble bee does not live in a large colony the nest is usually little bigger than half a grapefruit even in the busiest days of high Summer.
The queen begins a new nest with a ball of pollen and wax into which she lays just a few (approx 6 ) eggs at a time. When the eggs hatch they try to eat their way through the pollen reserve but the queen continually adds to the pollen and wax sealing them in. Eventually the grubs pupate and the queen spins a bright yellow cocoon of the finest silk from which the grubs emerge a few days later as fully grown worker bees.
As soon as they dry their wings the worker bees begin work to support the colony and their queen. She continues to lay eggs but as it takes more and more of her time the pollen and nectar collection is delegated to the workers, the queen spending her whole time in the nest.
This co-operation continues throughout the high days of late Spring and Summer until the nest has reached the right size for its species. At that point the queen lays eggs destined to become next years queen bees as well as drones or male bees. The drones once hatched leave the nest and live independent lives, their only purpose being to mate with the young queens to ensure the survival of the species. Unlike honey bees the young bumble queens will continue to live and work in the mother colony for the remainder of the Summer and Autumn.
Come the first sharp drop in temperature and frosts the old queen, her workers and the independent drones will die. Only the newly mated queens will survive in hibernation to begin the cycle again the following Spring.
(Fuente:Hercules)