The Bumblebees' Nest

Suitable nesting places are in great demand for small creatures. A birdhouse, built by a friend using old bee hive lumber, hangs on the porch railing of our home. Each year there is considerable competition between finches, wrens, bluebirds, and sparrows for the use of this nesting box. This spring, sparrows won the battle and reared a clutch of baby birds. After the fledgling birds left the nest, bumblebees moved in. Typically, bumblebees live underground in abandoned mouse nests. Unlike honey bees, which have colonies containing thousands of members, bumblebees establish small colonies of several dozen bees. Bumblebees collect nectar and pollen from flowers, and inside the bumblebees’ nest they build small honey pots to hold their food stores. Bumblebees, like honey bees, are gentle insects; however, they both defend their nests from intruders by stinging. When gray squirrels started gnawing at the entrance to the bumblebee colony’s birdhouse home, the bees came out in force. Bumblebees attacked and chased all squirrels and songbirds in the vicinity. They also chased humans from the area. Protected by my beekeeper’s protective veil and gloves, I removed the bumblebee nest from the birdhouse. The disturbed bumblebees persisted in continuing their attempt to drive me away. While bumblebees ignore the touch of a bare hand while they are foraging on flowers, one would surely not want to handle their nest without protective gear!

A trap-door arrangement on the birdhouse allowed me to remove the sparrows’ nest intact. The bumblebee nest filled a vacancy in the center of the soft bird nest material. Today’s photo shows the neat wax honey pots and pollen stores. Bumblebees have longer tongues than honey bees; thus they are able to forage on flowers with deeper, bell-shaped coronas. They carry pollen in pollen baskets on their hind legs. They have a stinger without barbs. Bumblebees are important pollinators of crops and wildflowers, but they don’t produce a surplus of harvestable honey. They are used to pollinate tomatoes grown in greenhouses.

--Richard