Bumblebee

When Bumblebee Visits

A low velvet hum amongst the flowers, a round body dusted with pollen and wings moving faster than the eye can follow. Bumblebees bring the garden to life, travelling patiently from bloom to bloom and carrying the promise of seeds, fruit and another flowering year.

Perhaps Bumblebee reminds us that small, repeated acts can create far more than we ever see.

In the Natural World

Britain is home to 24 species of bumblebee, from familiar garden visitors to much rarer species with very particular habitat needs. Their thick covering of branched hairs helps trap pollen as they move between flowers.

Most bumblebees live in annual colonies. A queen emerges from hibernation in spring, feeds on nectar and searches for a sheltered nesting place. Depending on the species, this may be underground, amongst long grass, in an old rodent nest, a compost heap, a bird box or another dry cavity.

Once her first daughters become workers, they take over much of the foraging while the queen remains in the nest producing more brood. Bumblebees collect nectar for energy and pollen as a protein-rich food for their developing young.

British Species 24 species are currently found in the UK, including six cuckoo bumblebees.

Their Work Important pollinators of wildflowers, garden plants, fruit and vegetables.

Nest Life Most colonies last only one season and may contain anything from a few dozen to several hundred bees.

Winter In most species, only newly mated queens survive the winter by hibernating alone.

Bumblebee in Folklore

Bees have long carried associations with industry, community, abundance and the mysterious traffic between the human world and the natural one. Their lives seem small when viewed individually, yet together they help shape the harvest of an entire landscape.

It is worth making one little distinction. Many well-known British bee customs — including the tradition of “telling the bees” about deaths, marriages and other important household news — belong specifically to the keeping of honeybees. They were customs of the hive and should not automatically be attributed to wild bumblebees.

Bumblebees nevertheless fit naturally within the older symbolism of the bee: persistence, fruitful labour and the close relationship between flowers, weather and human survival. Their familiar hum in cottage gardens, orchards and hedgerows makes them one of the clearest signs that the growing season is truly awake.

There is something wonderfully unhurried about their work. A bumblebee may appear to wander from flower to flower, yet every visit has purpose. Pollen is carried, plants are fertilised and future seeds and fruits begin quietly behind it.

Through the Seasons

Spring

One of the first bumblebees you see may be a queen newly emerged from hibernation. She must feed quickly, then search for a safe nest site and begin the demanding work of raising her first brood alone. Early flowers such as willow, dead-nettle, dandelion and fruit blossom can be especially valuable at this time.

Summer

Colonies are at their busiest. Workers travel repeatedly between nest and flowers, carrying pollen and nectar home. Different species favour different flowers, and tongue length helps determine which blooms they can feed from most easily.

Autumn

The old colony begins to come to its natural end. Males and new queens leave the nest, and the young queens feed heavily to build the reserves they will need for winter. Late flowers such as ivy, sedum, scabious and autumn-flowering herbs can provide vital food.

Winter

Most bumblebee activity disappears. Newly mated queens hide away beneath soil, moss, leaf litter, stones or other sheltered places. In milder parts of Britain some species may occasionally remain active, but for most bumblebees winter is a hidden season beneath the surface.

Tiny pollinators doing enormous work

Making Room for Bumblebees

Bumblebees need more than flowers for a few weeks in summer. They need a landscape that offers food from early spring into autumn, places to nest and undisturbed corners where queens can hibernate. The loss and fragmentation of flower-rich habitat is one of the greatest pressures facing them.

Loss of flower-rich habitat Wildflower meadows, hedgerows, field margins and untidy garden corners provide the continuous food bumblebees need. When these disappear, colonies can struggle to find enough pollen and nectar.

Pesticide exposure Insecticides can harm bees directly, while herbicides can remove the flowering plants on which they depend. Reducing unnecessary pesticide use helps both bumblebees and the wider web of garden wildlife.

Changing weather and climate Long wet spells, heat, drought and shifts in flowering times can reduce food availability or make it harder for colonies to complete their lifecycle successfully.

Loss of nesting and winter shelter Closely cut lawns, cleared borders and over-tidy spaces can remove old holes, tussocky grass, moss and undisturbed soil that queens use for nesting or hibernation.

A bee-friendly garden does not have to be large or perfectly wild. A pot of nectar-rich flowers, a patch of clover left unmown, a pesticide-free border or a quiet corner allowed to remain untidy can all become part of a much larger network of refuge.

A Gentle Reflection

Bumblebee does not create a meadow in a single flight. It simply visits the next flower, and then the next, carrying a little of one place into another. Much of what it makes possible happens after it has already flown away.

What small thing could you tend today, trusting that its full flowering may come later?

Cottage sources: Bumblebee Conservation Trust information on the bumblebee lifecycle, nests, species and conservation, together with its guidance on pesticides and flower-rich habitat.

Bumblebee lifecycle · Bumblebee nests · Bumblebee Conservation Trust · Pesticides guidance

Things to Notice

Is it a large queen, a smaller worker or perhaps a male?
Which colours and bands can you see on its body and tail?
Is pollen packed onto its hind legs?
Which flowers does it return to again and again?
Is it feeding steadily, searching low for a nest site or simply resting in the warmth?

The Turning Year

Spring Queens emerge and seek nests

Summer Workers, flowers and growing colonies

Autumn New queens prepare for winter

Winter Queens hidden in hibernation

How to Help

Grow flowers across as much of the year as you can. Early spring and late autumn nectar sources are especially valuable when fewer other flowers are available.

Avoid using insecticides and unnecessary herbicides. Even plants sometimes dismissed as weeds — including dandelions and clovers — can be excellent bumblebee food.

Leave a few quiet places alone. Long grass, old rodent holes, compost heaps, mossy edges, leaf litter and undisturbed soil may be useful for nesting or hibernating queens.

If you find a bumblebee nest, it can usually be left exactly where it is. Colonies are temporary and naturally come to an end within the year.

When you are ready, another garden path is waiting.

Next encounter: Butterfly →