The males and workers still in the colony die with frost or the first hard freeze. These mate on the wing and the fertilized females move to hibernation sites in the shelter of loose bark, hollow trees or other dry, protected places to lie dormant through the winter. By late summer, new reproductive males and females (kings and queens) are produced. The queen continues to lay eggs throughout the summer. She lines the cavity with dry grass or moss and then collects pollen and nectar to produce a stored food called "bee bread." Her first brood of offspring, (5 to 20), will all be workers (daughters) who take over the colony responsibilities of nest enlargement, food gathering and storage, and feeding and caring for the larvae. In the spring, each new queen selects a nest site and starts a new colony. Bumble bee colonies are usually underground in a deserted mouse or bird nest though they are occasionally found within wall cavities or even in the clothes drier vent. Bumble bees may re-appear in the same area from one year to the next but they do not reuse an old nest. Also, unlike honey bees, a bumble bee nest is annual and is used only one year and then abandoned. Bumble bee nests are small compared to honey bees, as each nest contains only a few hundred individuals. Like honey bees, bumble bees live in a colony where the adults care for the young (larvae) produced by a single queen. The common species are 3/4 inch in length or more. Live-trapping bumble bees for relocation is not practical and covering the nest entrance does not usually solve the problem.īumble bees are big, fuzzy insects recognized by almost everyone by their robust shape and black and yellow coloration.If the vicinity of a bumble bee nest can be avoided, then leave them alone and wait for them to die in the fall as the preferred "management" option.Their nests are annual, and each spring a new queen selects a nest site and starts a new colony.Bumble bees are big, fuzzy insects that are widely recognized for their robust shape and black and yellow coloring.
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