Can you bust these seven bumblebee myths?
Every year, we receive hundreds of questions about bumblebees, such as how to identify a rare species and whether bumblebees die when they sting you. Would you like to understand more about how bumblebees fly? Or have you ever wondered where bumblebees evolved from? We have picked out some of our favourite myths and questions about bumblebees to help you understand more about their bee-utiful behaviours.
by Sinead Munro, Bumblebee Conservation Assistant
1. All bumblebees have yellow and black stripes.
2. Bumblebees are important for producing honey.
Myth!
Only honeybees (right) produce honey for their colony to feed on over winter. Bumblebees don’t do this because only the queens hibernate while the rest of their nest (the workers, males, and old queen) all perish at the end of summer. Queen bumblebees feed heavily on nectar to store in fat reserves before going into hibernation.
3. Bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly.
Myth!
This myth stems from a well-known story of some engineers who proved that bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly because their wings are too small for the size of their bodies. In reality, bumblebees fly in quite a complicated way with their four wings, they don’t just flap them up and down which probably would make it impossible for them to fly. In fact, they flap their wings front to back and simultaneously rotate them, like a figure-8, to create enough lift!
4. Bumblebees can dislocate their wings.
True!
Another impressive thing bumblebees can do with their wings is dislocate them from their flight muscles and shiver them to warm themselves up. This is just one technique bumblebees use in order to keep warm because they are cold-blooded creatures so they cannot regulate their own body temperature.
5. Bumblebees can sting.
True!
Only female bees (queens and workers) can sting, males cannot. Bumblebees are quite docile so they will only sting if they feel under threat. Unlike honeybees, they are not likely to die when they sting. Honeybees have barbed stingers which can get stuck in whatever they are stinging and gets pulled off as it flies away. Bumblebees have smooth stingers which allows them to fly away easily and eject less venom.
6. Bumblebees are related to wasps.
True!
This happened about 130 million years ago when some types of wasp shifted from feeding their larvae insects to pollen, leading to the evolution of bees over millions of years. This happened around the same time as flowering plants started to evolve on a mass scale. Specifically, bumblebees evolved in the Himalayas around 25-40 million years ago where they were adapted to live at cooler temperatures and spread from Asia following a period of global cooling.
7. Bumblebee populations are declining because of predators.
Myth!
This is not to say that like most animals, bumblebees don’t have a number of predators. Badgers occasionally dig up bumblebee nests to eat the stored pollen and larvae when their other food sources are scarce, birds such as robins and great blue tits will eat bumblebees, and wasps and flies take this a step further by lay eggs inside live bumblebees or their nests. Despite these immediate threats, bumblebees and their predators have co-existed alongside one another for thousands of years so this natural competition doesn’t threaten the wider bumblebee population. The biggest threat posed to bumblebees is human-caused habitat loss and pesticide exposure. The best thing we can do to help bumblebees is to plant a variety of bee-friendly flowers that bloom throughout the year. Take a look at our free Bee the Change resources for some gardening inspiration!
Pollinators in sweet cherry orchards
by Zeus Mateos Fierro
The full bloom of cherry blossoms is a beautiful and yet ephemeral event that lasts about three weeks (typically from mid-April to early May). Numerous blossoms are available to pollinators, but resources are scarce for them in orchards after the blossom period. Cherry orchards have evolved in the last decades from the traditional open orchards with large trees to modern protected orchards with a smaller but greater number of trees.
However, pollinators are still needed to pollinate cherry blossoms and underpin yields, particularly since most of the varieties are self-incompatible and cross-pollination is required. Consequently, growers are highly reliant on managed pollinators. For the last three years, I have been researching pollination and pest regulation in commercial sweet cherry orchards in the West Midlands for my PhD at the University of Worcester. I have investigated the enhancement of wild pollinating insects, including bees, hoverflies, and butterflies through wildflowers.
Newly created wildflower habitats, with native perennial plant species, were established in the alleyways between rows of cherry trees to increase sustainable and resilient pollination. This is the first time that such an approach has been investigated under protective cropping, and could involve important benefits for the sweet cherry industry. A key aim of my project was to investigate what pollinators visited cherry blossoms and how effective they were delivering pollination services. I also investigated what pollinating insects used the wildflowers after the blossom period until late September. The study was funded by the University of Worcester, Waitrose & Partners, and Berry Gardens, in partnership with the University of Reading and NIAB EMR.
As with many fruit crops, cherries are typically pollinated by the western honeybee (Apis mellifera), but increasingly buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) have been used. Honeybee hives are hired and bumblebee nest boxes are bought, so that there are enough pollinators to support production. However, wild pollinators might be more efficient at pollinating cherry blossoms compared to managed pollinators. During our transect surveys in cherry orchards across the three-year study, we recorded a total of 19,738 pollinating insects, of which14,724 were recorded during the blossom period and 5,014 after. Managed pollinators were the most abundant with 6,502 honeybees, and 5,296 buff-tailed bumblebees recorded. Hoverflies were the most abundant wild pollinator guild, which accounted for 4,760 individuals, followed by 1,879 bumblebees, 1069 solitary bees, and 232 butterflies.
In total, 104 different pollinator species were recorded! This included one species of honeybee, ten bumblebee species, 33 species of solitary bee, 48 species of hoverfly, and 12 butterfly species. These figures show how reliant growers are on managed pollinators. However, despite the greater abundance of these, wild bumblebees (queens during the cherry blossom period) and solitary bees were more effective pollinating cherry blossoms, since they frequently contacted cherry stigmas and flew often between rows, enhancing cross-pollination.
Throughout my study, I found that wildflower strips increased the abundance and richness of pollinating insects, and therefore pollinator diversity, compared to unsown conventional alleyways. This led to an increase in fruit set. Although it takes time for benefits for growers to materialize, our approach has created a range of possibilities for growers to produce sweet cherries more sustainably. For example, wildflower habitats also provide resources to other beneficial insects (e.g. natural enemies), which can deliver pest regulation services throughout the growing season. The inclusion of wildflowers in the orchards also means the orchards can support pollinators throughout the year and not just during the cherry blossom period. The wildflower habitats are also an important tool for conservation, given that many pollinator species continue to decline.
Bumblebees of the World Blog Series… #9 Bombus gerstaeckeri
Bumblebees of the World Blog Series… #10 Bombus brodmannicus
Should you take a bumblebee home?
by Jack Reid, Outreach and Volunteering Officer at Bumblebee Conservation Trust
So, you kidnapped a bumblebee…
Each year, the Trust receives dozens of e-mails and phone calls from well-intentioned beenappers who have been out and about and found a tired-looking lone bumblebee that they’ve rescued and taken home with them to care for. In case you’ve been considering the practicalities of taking a bumblebee home, we have written up this useful guide to caring for your new friend, without taking it home!
Should I take a bumblebee home?
No! Bumblebees have their own homes.
At all times throughout the year, bumblebees have important jobs to be doing – whether it’s queens who are searching for a nest site or gathering pollen for their first clutch of workers; workers who are out, working hard to gather enough pollen and nectar to support their queens and siblings; or males who, despite their work ethic, are vital to ensuring there is a next generation of bumblebees.
For this reason, it’s very important to leave the bumblebees to what they’re supposed to be doing – they can’t support their nests if they can’t get back to them!
What should I feed bumblebees?
Bees need flowers!
Bumblebees are exceptional at identifying the nutrients and foods they need when they are foraging on flowering plants out in the wild. Our knowledge of bumblebee feeding habits is constantly evolving – but nobody knows what they need better than the bumblebees themselves. So we recommend that, rather than taking a tired-looking bumblebee home, you first consider whether they are in danger where they are, or if they’re simply resting!
For more information on if and when to move bumblebees, and when and what to feed them, please click here.
When should I release them?
The best time to leave your bumblebee alone was before you picked them up. The second best time is now!
Bumblebees navigate using landmarks, like buildings, or rocks, or trees. If they can’t find locations that they recognise, they may struggle to find their way back home to their nest when you release them.
If possible, bumblebees should be released near to where you found them. If not, placing them outside on or near to flowering plants is the next best option.
So what do I do if I find a tired bumblebee?
This is a great question – for information on what to do if you find a tired bumblebee, and when to feed, and/or possibly relocate them, please click here.
Bumblebees of the World Blog Series… #6 Bombus rupestris
Bumblebees of the World Blog Series… #7 Bombus inexspectatus
Bumblebees of the World Blog Series… #8 Bombus eximius
