Skip to main content

How to help bumblebees in summer

Two Buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) on a bright pink cone flower.

By Miranda Shephard, Bumblebee Conservation Trust Information Officer

Summer is the best time of year to enjoy watching bumblebees as they rely on flower-filled gardens and community green spaces in order to find food, nest and raise the next generation. Summer is also a great time to help bumblebees (and of course other garden wildlife) so read on to discover how you can make your outdoor space as welcoming as possible for your local bumblebees.

We’ll start by taking a look at what bumblebees are doing at this time of year, before finding out what you can plant in summer and whether you need to provide water for bumblebees. Finally, we’ll guide you through what to do if you discover a tired bumblebee or a bumblebee nest.

Contents

Click on one of the links below to find out more:

What are bumblebees doing in summer?

By the time summer arrives most of the bumblebees that you see will be workers. These often petite bumblebees are the daughters of the large queens that you might have seen feeding on early spring flowers. Fueled by nectar, it is the workers’ job to forage for more nectar and pollen. Back at the nest, the collected nectar sustains the queen and other workers while the pollen is fed to the developing bumblebee larvae.

Towards the middle of summer, when some nests can have a few hundred workers, they switch to producing new queens, who require even more food, and males. Once they reach adulthood these bumblebees will disperse, feed and seek out mates. Some queens then enter hibernation while others will make the most of plentiful food and start their own nest which, after four to five weeks, will result in a new generation of workers.

Different bumblebee species have slightly different emergence times and some, like the aptly named Early bumblebee, can successfully complete a nest cycle before others, such as the rarer Broken-belted bumblebee, have even emerged from hibernation. Other species, such as the Common carder bumblebee, are commonly seen all through spring, summer and autumn. This variation is the reason why it’s so important to have flowers from early spring all the way through to late autumn.

What can you plant for bumblebees in summer?

With all that bumblebee activity taking place, it’s important to provide lots of flowers throughout the summer. Different plants can produce varying amounts and qualities of both nectar and pollen so it’s a good idea to have a variety on offer. This will not only look beautiful but also let bumblebees, and other pollinators, choose the flowers which best meet their nutritional needs.

Many of the summer flowering plants prefer to be planted as seeds or young plants earlier in the year, but you can still visit garden centres or local plant sales and buy pot grown plants that are in or just about to flower. Some excellent bumblebee-friendly plants to look out for are Catmint (Nepeta species) and Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus).

In summer you can also plan ahead to other times of year. Both autumn or winter flowering mahonia (Mahonia species) and spring flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) shrubs can be planted in summer and will support bumblebees at times when there are not many flowers around.

Plants can struggle with being moved in summer, particular if it’s very warm and dry, so leave planting out until the evening and make sure they are well watered before and after they’re established. Depending on where you live in the UK, cooler wet weather might be a problem too but adding grit to compost or soil can help with drainage and avoid waterlogging new plants.

After bumblebees have visited and pollinated the flowers, plants naturally switch to seed production. By removing dead and dying flowers, you can encourage plants to produce more flowers so try to achieve a balance between leaving some flowers to develop into seed (for both hungry birds and of course for you to harvest to grow next year) and dead heading to encourage more flowers.

Do you need to provide drinking water for bumblebees?

Do bumblebees drink water? The simple but perhaps surprising answer is not really! Bumblebees generally get all the water they need from drinking nectar, even in very hot weather.

The best way to help bumblebees get a drink is by watering your plants so that their flowers keep producing nectar. In hot sunny weather, try to water plants and containers at cooler times of day, such as early morning or late evening, and at the base of the plant. This reduces evaporation and can help plant roots make the most of the water.

Other pollinating insects, such as honeybees and flies, will make use of water if it’s easy to reach in a shallow container. If this is something you’d like to do, place your water feature in a shady spot and make it even more insect friendly by adding a handful of small pebbles as perches.

There’s no need to leave out containers of sugar water or honey as bumblebees and other insects will be much healthier feeding on the natural sugars in nectar from your flowers.

Other areas of water, like pond edges, boggy patches or even a container of wet soil, can provide valuable mud for other wildlife, such as Red mason bees (Osmia bicornis) who will use it to construct their nest cells. Larger wildlife, like swallows and house martins, may also visit as they too use mud to make their nests.

How to help tired bumblebees in summer

Although bumblebees can be spotted from early spring all the way through to autumn, individual workers and males only live for a few weeks. So, it’s quite common to find tired bumblebees who are naturally approaching the end of their life. These bumblebees may look a little odd with faded or missing hair. It can be a tough job being a bumblebee!

You may also see new queens and male bumblebees sitting about on flowers or other surfaces. They don’t collect pollen for the nest and are just conserving energy by having a rest.

If you come across a tired or resting bumblebee on or near flowers, the best thing to do is to leave it alone to let nature take its course. If it is somewhere vulnerable, like on a pavement or indoors, you can gently move it to somewhere more suitable. If possible, choose somewhere that has flowers so the bumblebee can feed if it wants to.

We know that many people just want to help but it’s best to avoid giving sugar water which, just like sugary drinks for people, is not very healthy and doesn’t give all the nutrients a bumblebee needs. If you’re concerned about a bumblebee, and are tempted to give it sugar water, you can read more about when and how to give sugar water.

If you find a bumblebee nest, leave it ‘bee’

Sometimes, people have no idea that bumblebees are nesting close by until they notice an increase in bumblebee activity or accidentally disturb the nest in some way. In either case, provided the bumblebees are given a little space, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

Bumblebee nests are usually only active for two to three months. Towards the end of that period, there can be an increase in bumblebee activity around the nest entrance. This could be workers coming back and forth with food or it could be new queens dispersing from the nest. If it’s a Tree bumblebee nest, it could also be a gathering of males waiting for those new queens to emerge.

There’s nothing to worry about though as bumblebees are generally more interested in themselves than in the people around them. You can minimise disturbance by keeping children and pets away from the area or by using a temporary barrier to prevent them being too curious. An upturned wire hanging basket placed over a nest entrance can allow the bees through but keep curious fingers and noses out.

If you accidentally disturb a nest, just gently replace any coverings and give the bumblebees a little time and space to recover. The workers will pull together and rearrange materials to get the nest back to the way they want it. Then for the next few weeks while it’s still active just avoid the immediate area.

Remember to take time to enjoy watching them too!