In our region , May is the month we larn whether we ’ll have blueberries in the summer . In gravid part , we owe that serving to the bumblebee . While my Apis mellifera hunt along the grassy floor of our K for dandelions , it ’s the humblebee that does most of the work pollinating our 18 - year - old blueberry bushes . Why is that ?
We love and know honeybees for their ability to make love , and when an animal ( or dirt ball ) produce something we love , they ’re on our radar . But the indefatigable piece of work of the bumblebee goes unnoticed because its palpable product is largely unseeable : pollenation .
Here are seven facts about the bumblebee you in all likelihood did n’t be intimate :
1. They Vibrate to Pollinate
Bumblebees pollinate , in part , through a method call “ buzz pollination . ” This occur because of the rapid charge per unit of their wing motion — more than 130 beats per irregular . Their hover sound and natural action ( which is partly what gives them their bumbly “ buzz ” ) agitate pollen on the loose from flowers , permit neighboring bloom to be pollinated .
2. Their Wings Move in Unusual Ways
Bumblebees beat their wings up and down , rather than back and away . This is the reason they ’re capable to keep their otherwise powerful bodies in the air on such small wings .
3. Many Types of Bumblebees Exist
There are more than 250 bumblebee species worldwide , admit 46 in North America . Species on this continent includeBombus fraternus , Bombus morrisoni and Bombus griseocollis .
4. They Build Nests at Ground Level
Unlike the honeybee ( which establish nest above priming coat in shelter cavities ) or wasps and hornets ( which work up paper suspended nests ) , the bumblebee burrow under leaves and bray junk to establish its home and provoke young .
5. The Queen Feeds the Colony
Honeybees flex ambrosia into love and store big amounts for winter . With humblebee , though , the pouf pull together ambrosia from blooming flowers and stores it in a “ nectar pot , ” into which she secretes important enzyme . She feeds her young and member of her colony from these nectar flowerpot . Bumblebees do n’t overwinter the direction honeybees do , so their stores are not create for farsighted - condition use .
6. Bumblebee Colonies Are Quite Small
Bumblebee colonies are very tiny compared with honeybee colonies . Whereas a honeybee settlement might have more than 60,000 members in the peak of summer , a humblebee colony might reach only 500 .
7. In Winter, the Queen Stands Alone
In the fall , all members of the bumblebee dependency perish , and only the queen survives and overwinters . After plump out herself up , she tunnel in folio bedding or other lifelike dust and wait out the wintertime on her own . It is she who begins the new colony in the spring .
you’re able to help bumblebee this time of year in a bit of room . First , do n’t spray crops . Next , leave blossoming plant life that bumblebees seem to enjoy ( which is many of them ) and admit them to pollinate your garden without interference . Come fall , it ’s beneficial to bumblebees ( and other helpful insects and pollinators ) when you forget a patch of wild or unkempt spot of railyard or garden in which they can winter . I have an genus Echinacea garden that I leave rather risky in the fall and through the winter . have the natural cover of decaying and dry annual foliage provides cover charge for bumblebee queens and protection to other beneficials that awaken in the saltation to do their sorcerous work in your garden once again .
