BUMBLEBEE
BUMBLE BEE




BUMBLEBEES

5 FACTS ABOUT BUMBLEBEES AND HOW TO HELP THEM

BUMBLEBEES LINKS



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SECTION 1



BUMBLEBEES




Bumblebees are large, hairy social insects with a lazy buzz
and clumsy, bumbling flight.



Bumblebees
http://www.bumblebee.org/



Bumblebee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee




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SECTION 2



5 FACTS ABOUT
BUMBLEBEES AND
HOW TO HELP THEM




If asked to name a key pollinator in the United States, you’re likely
to think first of the honey bee. Native to Europe, honey bees were
introduced to North America during the 1600s and have been busily
pollinating our crops and other plants ever since.

But native bees play critical roles as pollinators as well, and among
these indigenous insects, bumble bees are the champs.


Here are a few more facts you may not have heard about bumble bees:


1. Unlike most native bees, but like honey bees, bumble bees are social
insects that live in colonies.

Usually located underground, particularly in abandoned holes made by
rodents, bumble bee nests contain between 50 and 500 individuals.


2. Except for new queens, which hibernate during winter, bumble bee colonies
die in late fall.

Queens overwinter in small holes just beneath or on the ground’s surface,
emerging in spring to create new colonies they begin by laying eggs.


3. Bumble bees do not produce honey, but pollination services they provide
are worth more than that product would yield.

Commercially traded bumble bees have become big business during the past two
decades as demand for bumble bee-pollinated berries, peppers and, especially,
hothouse tomatoes has skyrocketed.


4. Bumble bees’ wings beat 130 or more times per second.

That ability, combined with their large size, enables the bees to perform a
unique service, “buzz pollination” (vibrating flowers until they release pollen),
that helps plants produce more fruit. The insects’ size also allows them to
generate heat, so bumble bees can fly earlier and later in the day, as well as to
cooler, higher altitudes, than can honey bees.


5. Bumble bees are in trouble.

According to an article, “The Buzz About Bumble Bees,” in the current issue of
National Wildlife, four once-common, widespread North American species have
vanished from large portions of their former ranges. A fifth may already be
extinct. Scientists report similar losses across Europe, South America and Asia.

Bumble bees face many threats, including habitat loss, pesticides, introduced
diseases, climate change and competition from honey bees, says Sarina Jepsen,
endangered species program director for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation and deputy chair of the IUCN Bumble Bee Specialist Group. A new,
not-yet-published analysis conducted for IUCN concludes that up to a third of
North America’s nearly 50 bumble bee species are declining.



Helping Bumble Bees at Home

The good news is that all of us—particularly wildlife gardeners—can help bumble
bees in and around our own homes. Here are some of the most important steps you
can take:



Provide pollen and nectar for food.

Active from early spring through late fall, bumble bees need access to a variety
of nectar- and pollen-producing flowers so food will be available throughout all
stages of the insects’ life cycle. Native plants are best because they have
coevolved with indigenous bumble bees.



Ensure bumble bees have nesting sites.

Most bumble bees nest underground in holes made by larger animals, while others nest
aboveground in abandoned bird nests, grass tussocks or cavities such as hollow logs
or spaces beneath rocks. In gardens, they may also use compost piles or unoccupied
birdhouses.



Protect hibernation habitat.

Because most queens overwinter in small holes on or just below the ground’s surface,
avoid raking, tilling or mowing your yard until April or May. If you do need to mow,
do so with the mower blade set at the highest safe level.



Eliminate pesticides.

Both insecticides and herbicides should be avoided. In particular, steer clear of
systemic pesticides such as neonicotinoids, which are taken up by the vascular
systems of plants. This means bees and other pollinators are exposed to the poison
long after a product has been applied when they feed on the plants’ nectar and pollen.



Help scientists study bumble bees.

Report the bees you see in your yard or community to Bumble Bee Watch, a new
citizen-science project sponsored by the Xerces Society and five North American
partners.



Garden For Bumble Bees

May is Garden for Wildlife Month—the perfect time of year to establish or improve
your habitat for bumble bees and other native wildlife.



5 Facts About Bumble Bees—and How To Help Them
http://blog.nwf.org/2014/04/5-facts-about-bumble-bees-and-how-to-help-them/



Bumble Bee Watch
https://www.bumblebeewatch.org/




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SECTION 3



BUMBLEBEES
BUMBLE BEES
LINKS




Bee Houses
https://crownbees.com/shop/bee-houses

Bee Houses for Solitary Bees
https://www.almanac.com/content/bee-houses-solitary-bees

Bombus Identification Guid
http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Bombus

Build a Bee House
https://www.nwf.org/Garden-For-Wildlife/Young/Build-a-Bee-House.aspx

Bumble Bees
https://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/99302.aspx

Bumble Bees
http://www.bumblebee.org/

Bumble Bees
http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/facts/bumblebee.html

Bumble Bees
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg340.html

Bumble Bees
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Bumblebee

Bumble Bees
https://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/stinging-insects/bumble-bees/

Bumble Bees
https://a-z-animals.com/animals/bumble-bee/

Bumble Bees
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/naturallyscottish/bumblebees.pdf



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The Bumblebee Conservation Trust
http://bumblebeeconservation.org/

Bumblebees of the world
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/bombus/

Conservation and Management of North American Bumble Bees
https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo36661

Conserving Bumble Bees
http://xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/conserving_bb.pdf

Creating habitat for native bees
http://www.ourhabitatgarden.org/creatures/bees.html

Deciphering the Mystery of Bee Flight
http://www.caltech.edu/news/deciphering-mystery-bee-flight-1075

Facts About Bumblebees
https://www.livescience.com/57509-bumblebee-facts.html

Highland Bumblebees
http://www.hbrg.org.uk/BeeAtlas/DownloadBeeAtlas.html

IUCN's Bumblebee Specialist Group
http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/who_we_are/ssc_specialist_groups_and_red_list_authorities_directory/invertebrates/bumblebee_specialist_group/

Plans for bumblebee nest boxes
http://www.bumblebee.org/nestbox_plans.htm



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Animals and Their Habitats
http://www.dpughphoto.com/index




Critter Catalog
http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/




The Encyclopedia of Life
http://eol.org/




The Xerces Society
http://www.xerces.org/




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