Bumblebee is a big anti-science bee. Bumblebee interesting facts

Hymenoptera insects are impossible not to notice in almost any natural area, except for the islands of high Arctic latitudes and Antarctica. All kinds of wasps, bees, bumblebees, ants, various riders, horntails and sawflies - this is far from full list representatives of this order, one of the largest on our planet. In total, more than 100 thousand species are known, of which about 15 thousand live in Russia.
All winged Hymenoptera have two pairs of transparent, scaleless, membranous wings. Their front pair of wings is more developed than the back. The front wings interlock with the hind wings in flight, and this allows the Hymenoptera to fly faster.
Bumblebees are large, densely pubescent bees. Sometimes they are called warm-blooded insects because when working strong pectoral muscles The bumblebee produces a lot of heat, and its body temperature rises to 40 °C, exceeding the temperature by 20-30 °C environment. To warm up, a bumblebee does not have to fly; it can, while remaining in place, quickly contract its muscles, producing a characteristic buzzing sound. “Warm-blooded” allows bumblebees to live in very harsh climates - in the tundra and high in the mountains. Bumblebees are native to Eurasia, Africa and the Americas, but they were absent from Australia.

Bumblebees are very useful insects. Their nests must be protected in every possible way. Bumblebees fly tirelessly from flower to flower and are therefore valuable pollinators. Especially great value They act as clover pollinators. When clover began to be cultivated in Australia, it bloomed well, but did not bear seeds. This continued until bumblebees were brought there from Europe.

Adult bumblebees and the larvae they raise in their nests feed on pollen and nectar flowering plants. Bumblebees have a very long proboscis, and with its help they easily reach the nectar of flowers with narrow and deep corollas. They are the main pollinators of one of the most important food plants - red clover.
Other types of legumes are also adapted for pollination by bumblebees. Under the weight of the bumblebee, the lower part of their complex flower (the so-called boat) lowers, opening access to nectar. In the tundra, for example, where bumblebees are the main pollinators, flying even in cold, cloudy weather, members of the legume family are one of the largest and most diverse groups of dicotyledonous plants.
Typically, bumblebee families, consisting of a queen and several hundred workers, are formed only for the summer. Bumblebees make nests in the ground or in another convenient place. An abandoned mouse hole, a moss hummock, a hollow, a squirrel's nest, a birdhouse - everything is suitable for this purpose.
In early spring, an overwintered female bumblebee finds a place for a nest. Having lined the outside of the nest with dry blades of grass or moss, the female makes the first round waxy cell inside. She places a small supply of food in the cell - a mixture of pollen and honey - and lays several eggs. Having sealed this cell, the queen builds the next ones, which do not differ in such a regular shape as those of honey bees.
Meanwhile, larvae hatch in the first cell. When they eat the food supply, the female gnaws a hole in the cell through which she feeds them. After one and a half to two weeks, the larvae begin to weave silken oval cocoons and turn into pupae. Small worker bumblebees (smaller non-reproducing females) hatch from the pupae and immediately get to work: completing the nest, collecting food and feeding it to the larvae. There are no honeycombs like bees or wasps in a bumblebee nest. Old cocoons are randomly arranged in one floor at the bottom of the nest. They serve to store honey reserves. After this, the queen rarely leaves the nest (her main duty is to lay new eggs).
IN cold weather they “hum” together in the nest, raising the temperature to a comfortable 30-35 °C. Unlike honey bees, the reserves of honey and pollen in bumblebee nests are small; they are needed only to ensure that its population (it rarely exceeds 100-200 individuals) does not starve when bad weather strikes. Closer to autumn, females and males capable of reproduction hatch from the laid eggs. Development in bumblebees occurs in one generation. The males, having fertilized the females, soon die, and the females overwinter in order to establish new family.
Working bumblebees and queens have an apparatus on their hind legs for collecting pollen; it consists of a “basket” and a “brush”. By getting dirty with flower pollen, bumblebees carry it from flower to flower and pollinate plants. The lower jaws and lips of the bumblebee are strongly elongated and form a lapping apparatus, or proboscis. The bumblebee has a longer proboscis than most other bees, which allows bumblebees to extract sweet nectar from flowers with deep, narrow corollas, such as clover.

Bumblebees sting less painfully than wasps and bees. In addition, they are less agile and much more peaceful. Therefore, their nests are often attacked by mice, badgers, and foxes and eaten by bumblebee honey, larvae and pupae.
For bumblebee populations, plowing of land and treatment of land with pesticides turned out to be critical factors. Flowering meadows disappear, fertilizers are used - and the tireless toiling bumblebees buzz less and less in the spring. The populations of the steppe bumblebee, which today has the status of very rare species.
The steppe bumblebee (Bombusfragrans) belongs to the order Hymenoptera, family Bees (Apidae). Its range covers steppe and forest-steppe zone European territory of Russia, as well as the south Western Siberia. It makes nests in earthen burrows. Summer is observed in May - September. Bumblebees use pollen and nectar of herbaceous plants from the family Lamiaceae, legumes and Asteraceae as food. Protected in nature reserves - Central Black Earth and Galichya Mountain.
Variable bumblebee (Bombus proteus). Distributed in meadows and meadow steppes of the upper reaches of the Oka and in the Don basin. Summer is typical from mid-April to September. Bumblebees feed and feed their larvae with pollen and nectar of herbaceous plants, mainly from the legume and Asteraceae families. Populations are extremely small, especially in the northern parts of the range. Chemical treatment of land in forest-steppe areas has brought the existence of this species to a critical point.
The extraordinary bumblebee (Bombus paradoxus) is found in the south of Western Siberia. The population size here is at a critically low level, however, as in other parts of the range (southern European territory, foothills of the Altai). Like other species of bumblebees, the families of the extraordinary bumblebee develop in one generation in the spring-summer period, and fertilized females overwinter. In recent decades, the unusual bumblebee has been seen very rarely.
The Armenian bumblebee (Bombus armeniacus) is occasionally found along the edges of ravines and ravines, and the edges of steppe forests. These steppe “inconveniences” were not touched by the plow, but pesticides were not spared. Bumblebees make nesting burrows in the soil. They feed the larvae and feed themselves on pollen and nectar of flowering plants (Labiaceae, legumes, Compositae).
The rare bumblebee (Bombus unicus) inhabits the Primorsky Territory and the Amur region. Population numbers are extremely low and continue to decline steadily. Not found outside Russia. Subject to strict protection.
The hermit bumblebee (Bombus anachoreta) is found in the south of Primorsky Krai, where it settles in small meadows, forest edges and clearings. The number of this type of insect is at a critically low level due to intensive grazing and haymaking - both of which lead to the death of nests.

Bumblebee (Bombus)

Magnitude	The body length of the working female is 1.1-1.7 cm, the drone - 1.4-1.6, the fertile uterus - 2-2.3 cm
Signs	On the chest and abdomen, dense hairs form black, red and white bands
Nutrition	Collects pollen from vetch, cornflowers, foxgloves, plantain, bean and willow
Reproduction	Nests most often in abandoned burrows small mammals(mice); fertilization of young fertile females in the fall, creation of a new nest in the following spring
Habitats	Prefers open areas and is most often found in meadows and fields, but sometimes in forests at altitudes up to 1400 m; distributed throughout Europe

After a decade of catalog dominance by original variegated and colorful tulip varieties, trends began to change. At exhibitions, the best designers in the world offer to remember the classics and pay tribute to charming white tulips. Sparkling under the warm rays spring sun, they look especially festive in the garden. Welcoming spring after a long wait, tulips seem to remind us that white is not only the color of snow, but also the joyful celebration of flowering.

Despite the fact that cabbage is one of the most popular vegetables, not all summer residents, especially beginners, can grow its seedlings. In apartment conditions they are hot and dark. In this case, it is impossible to obtain high-quality seedlings. And without strong, healthy seedlings it is difficult to count on a good harvest. Experienced gardeners know that it is better to sow cabbage seedlings in greenhouses or greenhouses. And some even grow cabbage by direct sowing seeds in the ground.

Flower growers tirelessly discover new indoor plants, replacing some with others. And here the conditions of a particular room are of no small importance, because plants have different requirements for their maintenance. Lovers of beautifully flowering plants often encounter difficulties. After all, in order for flowering to be long and abundant, such specimens require special care. Unpretentious plants There are not very many flowers blooming in rooms, and one of them is streptocarpus.

Calendula (marigold) is a flower that stands out among others with its bright color. Low bushes with delicate orange inflorescences can be found on the side of the road, in the meadow, in the front garden next to the house or even in vegetable beds. Calendula is so widespread in our area that it seems like it has always grown here. About interesting decorative varieties calendula, as well as about the use of calendula in cooking and medicine, read our article.

I think many will agree that we perceive the wind well only in a romantic aspect: we are sitting in a cozy, warm house, and the wind is raging outside the window... In fact, the wind blowing through our areas is a problem and there is nothing good about it. By creating windbreaks with the help of plants, we break the strong wind into several weak currents and significantly weaken it destructive force. How to protect a site from the wind will be discussed in this article.

Modern ferns- these are the ones rare plants antiquities, which, despite the passage of time and all kinds of cataclysms, not only survived, but were also largely able to preserve their former appearance. Of course, it is not possible to grow any of the fern representatives indoors, but some species have successfully adapted to life indoors. They look great as single plants or decorate a group of decorative foliage flowers.

Pilaf with pumpkin and meat - Azerbaijani pilaf, which differs from the traditional one in the method of preparation oriental pilaf. All ingredients for this recipe are prepared separately. Rice is boiled with ghee, saffron and turmeric. The meat is fried separately until golden brown, and pumpkin slices as well. Separately prepare the onions and carrots. Then everything is placed in layers in a cauldron or thick-walled pan, a little water or broth is poured in and simmered over low heat for about half an hour.

Basil is a wonderful universal seasoning for meat, fish, soups and fresh salads- well known to all lovers of Caucasian and Italian cuisine. However, upon closer inspection, basil turns out to be a surprisingly versatile plant. For several seasons now, our family has been happily drinking aromatic basil tea. In a flowerbed with perennials and in flowerpots with annual flowers, the bright spicy plant also found a worthy place.

Thuja or juniper - which is better? This question can sometimes be heard in garden centers and at markets where these plants are sold. It is, of course, not entirely correct and correct. Well, it’s the same as asking what is better - night or day? Coffee or tea? Woman or man? Surely, everyone will have their own answer and opinion. And yet... What if you approach with an open mind and try to compare juniper and thuja according to certain objective parameters? Let's try it.

Brown Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Smoked Bacon is a delicious, smooth and creamy soup that both adults and children will love. If you are preparing a dish for the whole family, including kids, then do not add a lot of spices, although many modern children are not at all against spicy flavors. Bacon for serving can be prepared in different ways - fry in a frying pan, as in this recipe, or bake in the oven on parchment for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

For some, the time of sowing seeds for seedlings is a long-awaited and pleasant chore, for others it is a difficult necessity, and others wonder whether it would be easier to buy ready-made seedlings on the market or from friends? Be that as it may, even if you have given up growing vegetables, you will probably still have to sow something. These are flowers and perennials, conifers and much more. A seedling is still a seedling, no matter what you sow.

amateur humid air and one of the most compact and rare pafinia orchids is for most orchid growers a real star. Its flowering rarely lasts longer than a week, but it can be an unforgettable sight. You want to look at the unusual striped patterns on the huge flowers of a modest orchid endlessly. In indoor culture, pafinia is rightly ranked among the difficult-to-grow species. It became fashionable only with the spread of interior terrariums.

Pumpkin ginger marmalade is a warming sweet that can be prepared almost all year round. Pumpkin keeps for a long time - sometimes I manage to save a few vegetables until summer, fresh ginger and lemons are always available these days. Lemon can be replaced with lime or orange to create different flavors - variety in sweets is always nice. The finished marmalade is placed in dry jars; it can be stored at room temperature, but it’s always healthier to cook fresh food.

In 2014, the Japanese company Takii seed introduced petunia with a striking petal color - salmon-orange. By association with bright colors southern sunset sky, the unique hybrid is called African Sunset. Needless to say, this petunia instantly won the hearts of gardeners and was in great demand. But in the last two years, the curiosity has suddenly disappeared from store windows. Where did the orange petunia go?

In our family sweet pepper they love it, that’s why we plant it every year. Most of the varieties that I grow have been tested by me for more than one season; I cultivate them constantly. I also try to try something new every year. Pepper is a heat-loving plant and quite whimsical. Varietal and hybrid varieties of tasty and productive sweet peppers, which grow well for me, will be discussed further. I live in middle lane Russia.

They call it a bumblebee arthropod insect. It got its name because of the sound it makes when flying. These insects are brightly colored, large, and beautiful. They are able to carry a lot of pollen. The article describes what types of bumblebees there are in nature.

Description

The body of the insect is thick and heavy. Their wings are small and transparent. The wings beat about 400 times per second. The female’s head is elongated, broadly rounded at the back, while the male’s is triangular and rounded. The insect bites, using its jaws to defend itself.

The bumblebee has a proboscis with which it collects nectar. All species may have different lengths, for example, the small ground bumblebee has a body of 7-10 mm, and the garden bumblebee has a body of 18-19 mm. Insects have 6 legs. The hairs that cover the body are usually black, white, yellow, orange, reddish or gray.

Food

Where does a bumblebee live and what does it eat? These insects collect pollen and nectar from plants. It turns out that they are polytrophic. To feed the larvae, bumblebees use fresh nectar and honey, which they produce themselves. The second product is more liquid compared to bee product, as well as light and light. It contains over 20% water.

Accommodation

Where do bumblebees live? They live on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica. In the Northern Hemisphere there are more of them in temperate latitudes, and its habitat extends beyond the Arctic Circle.

Bumblebees are considered the most cold-resistant representatives of bees. They cannot survive in the hot tropics. Body temperature can be up to 40 degrees, which is associated with rapid contraction of the chest muscles. This causes a loud buzzing sound. This is how the bumblebee warms up. When the movement stops, it cools down.

Location of nests

Where do bumblebees live? Nests may be underground. Insects settle in rodent burrows and molehills. In rodent burrows there is material that can insulate a bumblebee nest - wool, dry grass. Nests can also be on the ground. Where do bumblebees live if their homes are on the surface? Some species live in grass, moss hummocks, and bird nests.

Where else do bumblebees live? Some nests are located above the ground. These could be tree hollows, birdhouses, buildings. The shape of the nest varies, depending on the cavity used by the bumblebee. Ground dwellings are usually insulated with dry grass, moss, and wax. They are made by bumblebees thanks to the abdominal glands, and then with their paws they clean thin strips of wax from the belly, put them in growth, knead them and use them to sculpt everything they need. The optimal temperature in the nests is 30-35 degrees.

In nature

Bumblebees are considered social insects. Like all bees, they live in families, which include:

Large fertile queens.
Small working bumblebees.
Males.

If there are no queens, worker males lay eggs. The family lives for 1 year - from spring to autumn. It includes fewer individuals than the bee group - about 100-200, but sometimes 500.

Lifespan

Typically, the lifespan of an insect is 2 weeks. They die because various reasons, including rapid wear and tear when collecting feed. Males can live no more than a month; they die after mating. After fertilization, females begin wintering. Then they lay eggs, feed the larvae, and then die.

Bites and consequences

This insect is considered peaceful. It is not aggressive and bites only in defense, for example, when closing the entrance to a nest. But such a bumblebee bite is weak and not harmful. Females sting when threatened. The sting does not remain in the body, compared to a bee, so bumblebees do not die after being stung. But the poison causes pain, itching, and redness. There may be swelling. Symptoms may persist for several days.

Insect venom is similar to bee venom, but contains fewer components that can cause a toxic reaction. For most healthy people it's not dangerous. It is better to prevent a bumblebee bite, but if this happens, first aid should be provided:

Treat the painful area with an antiseptic, alcohol or soap and water.
Apply a cold compress.
Provide plenty of warm fluids.
Eliminate itching with an antihistamine, for example, Suprastin.

You can remove the consequences of a bite at home folk remedies. Compresses made from gruel with soda, an aspirin or validol tablet diluted in water will help. Infusions of tansy or chamomile are suitable. Crushed leaves of parsley, plantain, and dandelion have a healing effect. Compresses need to be changed after 2 hours. Shredded potatoes, onions, and apples give an excellent effect. At strong bite in the neck, eyes, lips, if allergies occur, you should consult a doctor.

Bumblebees are considered important pollinators of meadow, forest, and agricultural crops. Many insect species perform cross-pollination several times faster than bees. They pollinate clover, alfalfa, and legumes.

Ants are harmful to bumblebees. They can steal honey, eggs, and larvae. Therefore, insects prefer to build nests above the ground, far from anthills, as well as underground. Wasps and brachycoma flies can steal honey. Conopid flies are dangerous for them. Bumblebee offspring can be destroyed by the caterpillars of the moth moth.

Thus, bumblebees are unique insects that are beneficial to nature. And they can cause harm only for the purpose of self-defense.

Everyone has seen a large, menacingly buzzing insect collecting pollen and nectar from flowers like bees. These are bumblebees from the family of true bees. In total, there are 300 species of bumblebees in the world, divided into 15 subgenera (previously there were 50, but now the number of subgenera has been reduced). The genus Bombus is part of the same family as the honey bee.

Where do they live?

These insects can withstand low temperatures. Where the bumblebee lives, other bees cannot survive due to the cold climate. Bumblebees can often be found in the northern latitudes of Europe and in the mountains bordering the ice, where they are the only pollinators for plants.

Interesting!
Small lives at 70° northern latitude and took root in Iceland and New Zealand.

Characteristics

Bumblebees in most cases have similar external characteristics, differing only in the size and color of the stripes. The body length of a female bumblebee is 1.3-2.8 cm, a male is 0.7-2.4 cm. The exception is the Asian giant bumblebee, which lives in East Asia. This huge bumblebee grows up to 5 cm with a wingspan of 8 cm.

Note!
It still kills several dozen people in the world every year.

The body of insects is covered with bristles, and the pollen collection baskets are surrounded by straight, stiff hairs. In these baskets, workers carry pollen equal to their own weight. Total quantity Insects have 6 legs. The abdomen of insects, like all bees, is not tucked.

With its massive body and small wings, the bumblebee looks as if it defies the laws of aerodynamics. But this opinion was formed when only airplanes with fixed wings flew. It has now been clearly established that these insects are quite “law-abiding.” A photo of a bumblebee clearly demonstrates its structure and body size in relation to its wings.

Interesting!
The number of bumblebee wing beats is 400 times per second.

The question of how many eyes a bumblebee has is very interesting, since it depends on what the speaker understands by the word “eye”. In our usual understanding: “the organ that sees the picture,” the bumblebee has two eyes. But if we count the eyes as organs that perceive only the presence/absence of lighting, then three more are added. They are located between the main eyes on the back of the insect's head. In the photo there is a bumblebee close up The parietal “photoelements” are clearly visible.

Insects have powerful jaws with which they can bite painfully. Oral apparatus also equipped long proboscis, with the help of which insects extract nectar from flowers with a very deep cup. The sucking proboscis is clearly visible in the photograph.

Bumblebees feed on nectar; in the absence of honey plants, they make do with plant sap, which they extract with the help of their jaws: they gnaw a hole in the stem. At favorable conditions In summer, bumblebees eat nectar and pollen, sometimes completely smearing themselves in it.

Sex differences

The female's head is slightly elongated and rounded at the back. In a male, the head may be almost round or triangular with a noticeable thin dotted line running along the front and crown. The female has a rectangular upper lip with strongly curved mandibles, overlapping each other when closed. Males have a gnawing apparatus that allows them to gnaw blades of grass.

In a female individual of any species, the sixth sternite on the abdomen is without carinae. The male has no median eminence on the second sternite. The abdomen of females ends with a sting. The sting is “reusable”, as it has no serrations, and the female can pull it out of the victim. The male bumblebee does not have a stinger. Instead, it has heavily chitinized genitals that are dark brown in color.

Males do not have characteristic “baskets” on their hind legs, last pair paws pubescent. The degree of pubescence varies depending on the species.

Note!
Depending on their “specialization,” female bumblebees are called either workers or queen bumblebees.

Types of bumblebees

About 100 species of these beneficial insects live in Russia. Species composition varies depending on the territory. And some species of bumblebees in Russia are too rare to be of serious importance for agriculture. The names of species are often inaccurately indicated both in Latin and in Russian: meadow, moss, and other species successfully nest in forests; Equines cannot be found in stables; they build nests in meadows, trees, and forests. In fact, in nature, bumblebees live where they managed to find a convenient place for a nest, in any ecosystems except waterlogged ones. This makes it difficult for even experts to classify bumblebees.

It is most convenient to separate large bees by color:

yellow-black-white variegated;
grayish-yellow with a red tip on the belly and a dark stripe on the back;
buffy-yellow with a black spot or stripe between the wings;
gray with a black stripe on the back;
with a red tip of the abdomen;
brown with a light tip of the abdomen and a dark stripe across the abdomen;
yellow and red.

These species of bumblebees are very useful as clover pollinators, but the pest cuckoo bumblebee can masquerade as them.

Photo various types bumblebees and their brief description below.

Garden (B. hortorum L.). The proboscis is very long. Nests in abandoned rodent burrows in late spring – early summer.
(B. lucorum L.). This is a small bumblebee, working individuals do not exceed 17 mm. The queen can grow up to 27 mm, and males 11-22 mm. Lives in rodent burrows. Families are large. The bumblebee's structure is designed to extract nectar from clover flowers, where the insect cannot reach with its short proboscis. It has a short, dense body and is able to gnaw flowers while hanging on the inflorescence.
Subterranean bumblebee (B. subterraneus latreillellus Kirby). This largest bumblebee is called so because its nests are only underground. Families are small. The body is elongated. The proboscis is very long. Medium-sized workers. The species size is determined by the queen bumblebee, which is the largest of all species in Russia. Nests in early summer. This is a less beautiful bumblebee compared to the previous ones: the yellow stripes are duller, the tip of the abdomen is dirty white.

Grayish yellow:

Two species of steppe. The proboscis is medium, the body is short. One species has darker wings than the other. They nest underground in late spring. The number of families is very variable.
Forest. Short-bodied small insect. Duller in color than the steppe ones. Nesting in May-June in ground or underground nests.

Note!
Ocher yellow:
Carder (V. distinguendus F. Mog.). The trunk is long. The body is oblong and large. There are no working individuals. Nests underground in June - early July. Families are small.
Spottedback (B. maculidorsis Skor.). Similar to the carder, but smaller. There is a spot on the back, not a bandage. Nesting like that of a comber.

Stone (B. lapidarius L.). Large, densely black with a red tip on the belly. The proboscis is medium. Nesting underground from early spring. The families are very large.
Small stone. The trunk is long. The color varies greatly. Nesting early spring on the ground.
Horse. Gray with a black stripe on the back. The proboscis is long. Medium size, oblong body. Nesting in May-June in buildings, on the ground, underground, in old bumblebee nests.

Brown:
(B. agrorum F.). Short oval body, small size, very variable coloring. Nesting is above ground, from early spring. Family size is average.
. The body is short, dark brown. The proboscis is medium. Nesting is extended. Settles on the ground, in hollows, birdhouses, buildings, and old bumblebee forests.

Red and yellow:
Variable (B. helferanus Seidl). Outwardly similar to field and moss, but the color is duller. The proboscis is very long. It nests on the ground or in old bumblebee nests. The bumblebee family of this species is very numerous. Aggressive.
Mokhova (V. muscorum F.). The body is oval, short. The insect is not large. The proboscis is long. The color is bright golden yellow, the back is orange. Nesting is on the ground, from early spring.

Interesting!
Sometimes the field bumblebee can look like a mossy or changeable one.

Lifestyle
The bumblebee is useful in nature because it pollinates plants that bees cannot pollinate. It is also the only pollinator of clover. Without bumblebees there will be no harvest. Insects can nest in hollows and even on the ground. The ground nest is a sphere made of wax. The shape of the underground and arboreal depends on the cavity occupied by the family. By the end of summer, the bumblebee's nest looks like sloppy rags of wax, since during reproduction the queen each time lays eggs in a new cell, which the workers build in place of the old one.
Interesting!
In the morning you can hear a deep buzzing sound near the nest. For a long time It was believed that this is how insects ventilate the nest. Later it turned out that the bumblebee does this to warm up itself, since with the active movement of its wings, its body temperature rises 10-30° higher than in the environment.

The bumblebee is a social insect. The family contains queens, working females and males. Working individuals build honeycombs and collect honey, which is worse than bees. The quantity of the product is also very small.
The queen lays eggs in the honeycomb and feeds the first larvae. Later, workers do this. The bumblebee larva feeds on a mixture of honey and pollen brought by the working females. Males, having fertilized the queen, leave the nest forever.
Interesting!
In the absence of a queen, worker females can lay eggs.

The life of bumblebees in the main family is very short. How long bumblebees live depends on their social status: workers and males live only summer months. The queens go to winter. Only in tropical areas do bumblebees breed all year round, but the life of an individual family is no more than 1 year.
Interesting!
Only one species, Bombus atratus, from the Amazon basin, lives for several years.

Bumblebees spend the winter buried in the ground. But only queens. The remaining individuals die in the fall. Waking up in the spring, the queen finds a suitable place for a new nest and builds the first honeycomb. After which it begins to multiply. Until the first generation of working females grows up, the queen herself obtains food and cares for the larvae.
It is difficult to tell everything about bumblebees, but it is enough for a gardener to know that bumblebees do no harm, but have a lot of benefits.

Let's talk about bumblebees. Bumblebee is a flying insect, very close relative ordinary honey bee.

Externally, a bumblebee is very similar to an ordinary bee, only it is larger, up to 2.5 cm in length or more, its plump body is densely covered with hairs. The back is dark, most often with yellow stripes, but sometimes the stripes are orange or red; pure black individuals without stripes are rarely found. The insect's body ends with a smooth sting without serrations, which is not visible in its normal state. There are 2 small transparent wings on the back.

In total, scientists have counted more than 300 species of bumblebees. They appeared on Earth about 30 million years ago! They live in the northern part of Eurasia and Africa, in North America. Not long ago, these furry insects were brought to Australia and New Zealand. They feel great in the mountains, forests, and fields.

How do bumblebees live

They build nests in the ground, leaf litter, hollows, bird nests, mole holes, mouse holes, and squirrel holes.
Each family has up to 200-300 individuals:
queens that lay eggs are the largest - on average 26 mm;
workers who complete and repair the nest, get food, they are the smallest - up to 19 mm;
the males that fertilize the queens are of average size - up to 22 mm.
One of the worker bumblebees is a trumpeter. Every morning he is the first to fly out of the nest and wakes up the others with a special hum.

Bumblebees (lat. Bombus) are a genus of hymenopteran insects that are close relatives of honey bees. About 300 species of bumblebees live in Northern Eurasia, North America, North Africa, as well as in the mountains of some other regions.

Bumblebees are one of the most cold-resistant insects. They are able, by quickly and frequently contracting the chest muscles, to quickly warm up their body to the required 40 °C. This allows them to fly out early in the morning and collect the first nectar, when the air has not yet warmed up enough, and gives the bumblebees a certain competitive advantage before other insect species.
The bumblebee's "fur" helps it warm up - it reduces heat loss by half.

During flight, 90% of all energy is converted into heat, and therefore the temperature of a flying bumblebee is constant: 36″C at an ambient air temperature of 5°C, and 45°C at 35°C in the air. At higher temperatures, the bumblebee cannot fly due to overheating. Although bumblebees do have cooling mechanisms: a flying bumblebee releases a drop of liquid from its mouth, which evaporates and cools its head.

Bumblebee is unable to maintain high temperature body when sitting motionless.

Bumblebees live in colonies of 50-200 individuals each. The colony consists of three types of individuals: females, workers (immature females) and males. The founder of the family is the queen female; she is one of the few females that have overwintered and are fertilized in the fall. In early spring (late April-May), the queen begins to build a nest alone.
A peculiarity of bumblebees is that, unlike other social bees, all larvae develop and are fed together, in one chamber. IN normal conditions the female, having laid 200-400 eggs that produce workers, begins to lay eggs from which females and males develop.

It has long been noticed that a “trumpeter” appears in bumblebee nests before dawn, which, as it was believed, raises his fellow tribesmen to work with his hum. But it turned out that he was simply shivering from the cold. Indeed, in the early morning hours the temperature at the soil surface drops significantly. The nest cools down and, in order to warm it, bumblebees have to work hard with their pectoral muscles.
On hot days you can see a bumblebee at the entrance to the nest, fluttering its wings. He is ventilating the nest.

Bumblebees, like bees, have poison, but, unlike bees, bumblebees do not leave a sting in human skin. And accordingly, they can sting many times in a row.

Due to the low aggressiveness of bumblebees, they can be widely used in garden plots. There is even a branch called bumblebee farming - breeding bumblebees to pollinate crops in order to increase their productivity.

An overwintered female bumblebee (queen) finds a place for a nest in early spring. Having lined the outside of the nest with moss or dry blades of grass, the female makes the first round wax cell inside. She places a small supply of food in the cell - a mixture of pollen and honey - and lays several eggs. Having sealed this cell, the uterus builds the next ones.

There is a common misconception that a bumblebee flies contrary to the laws of aerodynamics. It probably arose in the early 20th century in an attempt to apply lift calculations designed for airplanes to the bumblebee. Physicist Zheng Jane Wang from Cornell University (USA) proved that the flight of insects does not violate physical laws. This required many hours of simulation on a supercomputer. complex movement air around fast moving wings. Wang notes that old myth about the bumblebee is simply a consequence of aeronautical engineers' poor understanding of unsteady viscous gas dynamics.

The exact time of appearance of bumblebees is not known. The earliest fossils of the genus Bombus date from the Oligocene (38 - 26 million years), but the exact origin of the group is not yet known. The bumblebee fossil is a very rare find because it would be difficult to get caught in the resin. big insect To then be completely enveloped in it and harden into amber is very difficult.
The findings point to Asia as the place where bumblebees first appeared. To this day, this part of the world is home to the greatest diversity of bumblebees.