Bumblebee

Bumblebee //Apidae// Fig.1 Bumble bee covered in flower pollen.

__Kingdom__: Animalia __Phylum__: Arthropoda __Class__: Insecta __Order__: Hymenoptera __Family__: Apidae __Subfamily__: Apinae __Genus__: //Bombus// __Species__: There are over 250 known species.

Habitat:

Bumblebees are present in the Northern Hemisphere, South America, New Zealand and Tasmania (AU). They are found in primarily higher latitudes and altitudes that range in temperature climates. They are eusocial and live in colonies of about 50 individuals. They typically make their nests in tunnels in the ground made by other animals, or in grass. Their nest is protected and insulated by a waxy covering but typically they don't stay in the same nest through out the winter. Fig. 2 Bumblebee nesting in grass.

Life Cycle:

SPRING: The life cycle begins in the spring after the queen bee has awoken from hibernating in the soil. After regaining energy from drinking nectar she is ready to find a good nesting site. These include holes in the ground, grass, under shed structures, and sometimes in bird boxes. Before laying any eggs, she goes to collect pollen and makes a mound of pollen and wax secreted from her body. Then she is ready to lay the eggs. With the food she has already prepared for her self she is able to create enough energy to shiver her muscles to keep the eggs warm for several days until the larvae emerge. The queen will college pollen and nectar to feel to the larvae for about two weeks until they spin a cocoon and develop into adult bees. EARLY SUMMER: This first set of offspring that was first produced were all worker females. Their job is to work inside and outside the nest. They perform tasks such as cleaning the nest, and foraging for nectar and pollen to bring back to the nest. This way the queen never has to leave the nest so she can keep laying eggs and giving orders to her workers. LATE SUMMER: Now is when the queen bee produces non-workers. New queens and males are produced to ensure the colony can reproduce. The males usually leave the nest and don't come back. The new queens leave the nest to mate and once that happens, they stock up on food to use as energy for winter hibernation. By the end of the summer season, the new queens prepare to hibernate by themselves and the cycle will continue again the following spring. Fig. 3 Queen bees will spend winters hibernating under ground in hibernaculums.

Biology:

Appearance- Bees are typically brightly colored yellow and black. They can also range from totally black, to bright yellow, red, orange, white and pink. To prey this is a form of signaling that is a warning that they could be dangerous. They are so "fuzzy" or "hairy" to act as an insulation and also to pick up more pollen to pass on to other flowers, as seen in Figure 1 at the top of the page.

Feeding- Bees have a proboscis that is long and hairy to dip into liquid. When not in use it is folded and under the head. Nectar is drawn up the proboscis.

Impact on Humans:

Bumble bees are very important when it comes to the pollination of flowering plants and crops. They don't specialize on any plant in particular but it is the opposite for some plants. Bumble bees are declining rapidly. They are so useful because of their long proboscis, their large fuzzy body and rate of buzzing that helps release the pollen from flowers. This is seen as a threat to humans because bumblebees pollinate about 15% of US crops, which equates to about $3 billion. Just to name a few, we rely on the bees to pollinate our tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, many crop fields and a number of other plants we rely on. "The abundance of four species has declined by up to 96% in the last 10-15 years" declared Sydney Cameron, an entomologist at University of Illinois. This trend seems to be continuing and scientists have yet to figure out the exact problem. The continuation of this will lead to much less crop production and therefore impact our economy greatly.

Helpful Links and Videos: How to remove a nest safely Life Cycle Bumblebee News

A. Howard

References:

Literature

1. Hatfield, R., & Jepsin, S. (2012). Conserving bumble bees. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Retrieved from http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/ 2012/06/conserving_bb.pdf

2. Rice, D. (2011, January 3). Buzzkill: Usa's bumblebee population declining. USA Today. Retrieved from http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair post/2011/01/widespread-decline-of-north-american- bumblebees/1

3. Humble, K. (2009, May 5). About bees. Retrieved from http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees

4. Zeald, J. (2011, March 12). Biology: Bombus terrestris. Retrieved from http://www.biobees.co.nz/biology.html

Pictures:

1. Sladen, F. (2012). Bumble boosters. Informally published manuscript, UNL Department of Entomology, Retrieved from http://entomology.unl.edu/bumbleboosters/index.shtml

2. Wikipedia