I was walking through my yard recently when I spied spring’s first bumblebees. So adorable, fat, and furry, they buzzed around our crab apple tree. Seeing them made me happy. I love these little yellow and black striped insects. Unlike wasps and yellow jackets, bumblebees seem almost…well, cuddly. Which led me to wonder: can one pet a bumblebee?
It turns out, kind of. Although it’s not possible to form an actual relationship with a bumblebee. Or is it? I recently saw a video of a woman who had adopted an injured wing-less bumblebee. That insect loved being carried around on her shoulder all day, got the afternoon “zoomies,”, and even watched nightly television with her. Who knew?
Although gentle, wild bumblebees will sting if provoked. And it’s hard to interpret where that line in the sand is. Interestingly, only females sting. They even warn you if you’re getting in their face too much. An angry bumblebee will stick up one of her middle legs (yes, it sounds like you’re getting “flipped off”) before she goes for it. Unlike honeybees who attack and die, bumblebees can sting several times and live to tell about it.
I can’t help wondering—where do they live? I pictured tiny bumblebee dorms hidden on our property. Turns out they dwell in holes in the ground, which can accommodate up to 400 inhabitants. Inside, they have a queen bumblebee who runs everything.
At night, when they’re all home, what do bumblebees do? I honestly can’t imagine living life as a bee. They must sleep well since they’re up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next morning. Bumblebees start pollinating earlier than other bees since they can handle the cold morning air. Maybe it’s all that warm fuzz.
Their happy buzz is one of my favorite sounds of summer. Turns out they’re excellent pollinators, some of the best on the planet. They especially love foxglove, lavender, and cone flowers. Females do most of the gathering by grabbing the pollen-producing part in their jaws and using wing muscles to loosen the powder. They even have little built-in baskets on their back legs.
Male bumble bees (drones) leave their nests early to live solitary, bachelor lives, spending days looking for nectar to fuel the search for new queens to mate with. They never return to the nest, can’t sting, and are also important pollinators. They’re known to fall asleep on flowers in late summer. Aww…
Bumblebees are essential to our planet. Albert Einstein once said, “When the bees go, the human race will go.” Without their pollinating abilities, food supplies will dwindle.
Sadly, all bumblebees, except the queen, die in the fall. The ones we see now have a lifespan only a few months more.
It’s amazing how complex nature is. We look at a little insect and yet so much goes into its life and the role it plays in our world.
Shoot. I guess I can’t pet a bumblebee after all, but I still want to. In a few months, they’ll all be gone. I’ll miss them, but for now the bumblebees are here, and I’m happy.
Do you have any favorite first sign of spring? Comments are always welcome and if you’d like to receive posts by mail, just press here.
