Joey Saves The Day!: Facts about Bumblebees

Bumblebee Facts

Did you know that there are over 240 species of bumblebees? Yes, that is correct! Bumblebees are furry flying insects! They are larger than honeybees. Bumblebees aren’t always yellow and black in color. Some of the colors that bumblebees can be are white, yellow, black, reddish-orange, and red. Bumblebees prefer to live in a mild climate area. Most bumblebees can be found in the Northern Hemisphere. The Northern Hemisphere is the half of the earth above the equator. If you live in North America, you are in the Northern Hemisphere. Some bumblebees can be found living in places in South America, too. Part of South America is in the Northern Hemisphere.

Have you seen bumblebees where you live?

Facts about bumblebees:

1. Bumblebees are classified as herbivores. Herbivore means they mainly eat pollen, nectar, and honey. Bumblebees are also important pollinators of plants and crops.

2. Bumblebees live in hives/nests. They build their nests/hives in the ground, burrows, or other empty cavities. Bumblebees live in groups of up to 500 or less. A group of bumblebees is called a colony.

3. The largest species of bumblebee is Bombus dahlbomii, which lives in the southern part of South America. It can grow to as big as 1.6 inches long. That is a big bumblebee.

4. What is inside of the hive/nest? The queen bumblebee of the hive lays and protects her offspring. The worker bumblebees of the hive forage for food, clean, and care for the queen and other bumblebees. The drone bumblebees are male. The drone bumblebees’ main goal is to mate with a queen bumblebee.

5. Male bumblebees cannot sting. The other bumblebees can sting more than once because they do not lose their stinger when they sting. Don’t mess with bumblebees or any type of bees. Some people can be allergic to bee stings.

6. Bumblebees can fall asleep in flowers while out foraging for pollen and nectar if the temperature drops to under 55 degrees or colder.

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