Bumblebee Facts
Bumblebee Facts
|
| Interesting Bumblebee Facts: |
|---|
| Bumblebees can reach ¾ to 1 inch in length. |
| Entire body of a bumblebee is covered with tiny hairs and alternately arranged yellow and black bands. |
| Bumblebees have rounded body with 2 pairs of membranous wings and 3 pairs of legs. Legs are designed for gathering of pollen. |
| Bumblebees use sense of smell to detect flowers rich in nectar. Sense of smell is located on the antennas on the head. |
| Bumblebees produce buzzing sound as a result of vibration of muscles used for flying. These muscles increase temperature of the body and facilitate gathering of pollen. |
| Bumblebees eat pollen and nectar collected from various flowers. They produce minimal amount of honey that is used as food for the young bumblebees. |
| Bumblebees live in society that consists of up to 400 individuals. They are divided in three groups: queen, worker bees and drones. Worker bees develop from the eggs during the spring. They collect pollen and feed newly born bees. Drones develop from the eggs during the summer. They die immediately after fertilization. |
| Queen hibernates during the winter and starts laying eggs in the spring. She lays 8 to 12 eggs at a time. Young bumblebees emerge after 21 days. |
| Bumblebees undergo complete metamorphosis (four developmental stages from the egg to adult insect). Egg needs to pass larval and pupa stages before it transforms into adult insect. |
| Only queen and worker bees have stingers. Besides lack of stingers, drones can be identified by size - they are the smallest type of bumblebees in the colony. |
| Unlike the honeybee, bumblebees will not die after stinging. They can sting as much as they want. Luckily, they are not aggressive and they will sting only in self defense. |
| Bumblebees live in the nests in the ground or made of piles of leaves. They can also use abandoned nests of bird or mammals. |
| Bumblebees are highly appreciated by people because they pollinate plants that are used in human diet. Bumblebees pollinate plants such as apples, cherries, tomatoes, cotton, mustard… |
| Bumblebees are mostly attracted by blue and violet flowers. |
| Lifespan depends on the type of bumblebee. Drones will die immediately after reproduction. Worker bees can survive couple of months. Queen lives one year. |
|
Related Links: Facts Animal Facts Animals Facts |