Bumble bees are similar to their close relatives, the honey bees, in that their colonies are headed by a queen, who is the main egg-layer, and many workers, who are the daughters of the queen, and in that drones (males) are produced during the mating season. However, the colonies of bumble bees, unlike those of honey bees, only survive during the warm season; new queens hibernate alone to begin another colony the following spring. In addition, there are usually fewer individuals in a bumble-bee colony than in a honey-bee colony, and bumble bees do not use a dance to communicate the location of food to other members of the colony, as honey bees do. Also, although bumble bees collect nectar and store it as honey, they do not hoard large amounts of it, as do honey bees.
Bumble bees are important pollinators of many plants. Both queens and workers collect pollen and transport it back to the colony in pollen baskets on their hind legs. Workers are small if born early in the year, and large if born later in the year. Also, some species of bumble bees are larger than others. Differences in body size, and especially in tongue length, are important in determining which flower species a bumble bee will visit for nectar and may determine which flowers it can pollinate.
Bumble Bee
Bumble Bee
Bumble Bee
Bumble Bee
Bumble Bee
