I’ve found a bumblebee with deformed wings that can’t fly, what’s happened?

There are several reasons why a bumblebee might have missing or deformed wings. It’s not usually possible to say for sure what happened but it could have been caused by a virus, or an issue during pupation, or from an encounter with another animal.

If bumblebees are not able to fly, they won’t be able to live a normal bumblebee life and won’t be able to visit flowers to feed properly. It is sad, but there isn’t anything people can do about this and they will probably die quite quickly.

If you find a bumblebee with missing or deformed wings it’s best to gently pop it on some flowers and let nature take its course.