Bumblebee – answers

1. Bumblebees do make honey, but only enough for themselves. Honeybees make lots more honey and that is why humans harvest some of their honey as a sweet treat.  You mustn’t take honey from bumblebees.
2. There are about 24 species of bumblebees (Davis, I & Cullum-Kenyon, R. The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping, published by Bloomsbury, London, 2^nd edition)
3. A bumblebee has two pairs of wings, so that is a total of 4 wings.
4. Just like other bees and insects, the bumblebee has two large compound eyes and it also has three simple eyes on the top of its head to detect different light intensity. So that’s a total of 5 eyes!
5. Yes bumblebees can sting. Only the females (the workers) can sting, however, they are not aggressive and only sting if they or their nests are threatened.  Depending on your tolerance to bee stings it can cause a painful irritation to the skin at best.  At worst it can be life threatening if it results in anaphylactic shock.
6. Bumblebees live in small nests underground, in old bird boxes, mouse holes or other sheltered mossy places. Why not check out the Bumblebee Conservation Trust information on how to make a bumblebee nest: https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/bumblebee-nests/
7. Bumblebees collect pollen which is a good source of protein for them and nectar which they use to make honey to feed themselves and their young.
8. Bumblebees pollinate plants and so they are vital in ensuring the survival of the crops that humans depend upon.
9. There are about 250 species of bee living in the UK, of which 225 are ‘solitary bees’, 24 are bumblebees and 1 is the honey bee. Here are just a few others that you might be lucky enough to see around here:
   • The honey bee (lives in colonies and in the right circumstances makes enough honey for humans to harvest)
   • The red mason bee – this is a solitary bee (and they like to use bug hotels!)
   • Common carder bumblebee
   • Tree bumblebee
   • Hairy footed flower bee
   • Common mourning bee
   • Wool carder bee
   • Leaf cutter bee (you’ll know when they’re around as your roses and other plants will have neat little circles cut out of the leaves … RHS Wisley says that this is quite fine for the plants and they can easily tolerate it.)
10. There are lots of points of difference between honey bees and bumblebees, here are a few:
    • The amount of hair – bumblebees are much furrier!
    • Bumblebees live in small nests and have small colonies of about 500 bees that don’t last over the winter. Honeybees have very large colonies and they overwinter, huddling together to conserve heat.
    • Bumblebees don’t store up reserves of honey in the same way honeybees do, honeybees do this so that they can overwinter.
    • Bumblebee nests are messy and chaotic, whereas the honeybee nests are organised with comb hanging in an orderly fashion containing geometric grids of cells.
11. There are lots of ways you can help conserve the bumblebee:
    • Make a nest for them in your garden
    • Plant flowers that they like to collect pollen and nectar from
    • Join the Bumblebee Conservation Trust BeWalk
    • Tell everyone how important bumblebees are!