Bumblebee
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- This article is about the flying insect. For other uses see Bumblebee (disambiguation).
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more than 250 species and subspecies in 37 subgenera |
The bumblebee (also spelled bumble bee, also known as humblebee) is a flying insect of the genus Bombus in the family Apidae. Like its relative the common honeybee, the bumblebee feeds on nectar and gathers pollen to feed its young. These creatures are beneficial to humans and the plant world alike, and tend to be larger and furrier than other members of the bee family. Most, but not all, bumblebee species are gentle. Bumblebees are social insects that are characterized by a black body with yellow stripes, a commonality among the majority of the species of Bombus; however, some species are known to have orange or even red on their bodies, or may be entirely black[1]. Another distinguishing characteristic is the soft nature of the long, branched setae, called pile, that covers their entire body, making them appear and feel fuzzy. Queen and worker bumblebees can sting, but the sting is not barbed like that of the honeybee, so they can sting more than once.[citation needed]
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[edit] Importance
Bumblebees are important pollinators of both crops and wildflowers.
[edit] Agricultural Use
Bumblebees are increasingly cultured for agricultural use as pollinators because they can pollinate plant species that other pollinators cannot by using a technique known as buzz pollination. For example, bumblebee colonies are often emplaced in greenhouse tomato production, because the frequency of buzzing that a bumblebee exhibits effectively pollinate tomatoes[2].
The agricultural use of bumblebees is limited to pollination. Because bumblebees do not overwinter the entire colony, they are not obliged to stockpile honey, and are therefore not useful as honey producers.
[edit] Endangered Species
Bumblebees are in danger in many developed countries due to habitat destruction and collateral pesticide damage. In Britain, until relatively recently, 19 species of native true bumblebee were recognised along with six species of cuckoo bumblebees (bumblebees that trick other species into looking after their young). Of these, three have already become extinct<ref>Harman, Alan. "Bumblebee Shortage". Bee Culture, 59. July, 2003.</ref>, eight are in serious decline and only six remain widespread. A decline in bumblebee numbers could cause large-scale sweeping changes to the countryside, due to inadequate pollination of certain plants. In response to this, a new organisation has recently been set up - The Bumblebee Conservation Trust aims to halt these declines through conservation and education (see links).
[edit] Life
[edit] Habitat
Bumblebees are typically found in higher latitudes that range from warm to cold climates where other bees might not be found. One reason for this is that bumblebees can regulate their body temperature, via solar radiation, internal mechanisms of "shivering" and radiative cooling from the abdomen (called heterothermy). Other bees have similar physiology, but it has been best studied in bumblebees.
[edit] Nests
Bumblebees form colonies, much like honeybees. However, their colonies are usually much less extensive than those of honeybees, because of the small physical size of the nest cavity, the fact that a single female is responsible for the initial construction, and the restriction to a single season. Often, mature bumblebee nests will hold fewer than 50 individuals, and may be within tunnels in the ground made by other animals, or in tussocky grass. Bumblebees mostly do not preserve their nests through the winter, though some tropical species live in their nests for several years (and their colonies can grow quite large, depending on the size of the nest cavity). The last generation of summer includes a number of queens who overwinter separately in protected spots.1
[edit] Food
Unlike honeybees, bumblebees only store a few days' worth of food and so are much more vulnerable to food shortages. However, because bumblebees are much more opportunistic feeders than honeybees, these shortages may have less profound effects.
[edit] Reproduction
In the autumn, young queens mate with male drone bees and hibernate over the winter in a sheltered area, whether in the ground or in a man-made structure. In the early spring, the queen awakens and finds a suitable place to create her colony, and then builds wax pots in which to lay her fertilized eggs from the previous winter. The eggs that hatch are female workers, and in time the queen populates the colony, with workers feeding the young and performing other duties similarly to honeybee workers.
[edit] Sting
Queen and worker bumblebees sting, but only do so in self-defense or if their nest is disturbed[citation needed]. See Schmidt Sting Pain Index.
[edit] Bumblebee myths
[edit] Flight
According to 20th century folklore, the laws of aerodynamics prove that the bumblebee should be incapable of flight, as it does not have the capacity (in terms of wing size or beat per second) to achieve flight with the degree of wing loading necessary. Not being aware of scientists proving it cannot fly, the bumblebee succeeds. The origin of this myth has been difficult to pin down with any certainty. John McMasters recounted an anecdote about an unnamed Swiss aerodynamicist at a dinner party who performed some rough calculations and concluded, presumably in jest, that according to the equations, bumblebees cannot fly.<ref>McMasters, John H. "The flight of the bumblebee and related myths of entomological engineering." American Scientist 77 (March/April 1989): pp.146-169, cited in Ingram, Jay The Barmaid's Brain, Aurum Press, 2001, pp.91-92.</ref> In later years McMasters has backed away from this origin, suggesting that there could be multiple sources, and that the earliest he has found was a reference in the 1934 French book Le vol des insectes by M. Magnan. Magnan is reported to have written that he and a Mr. Saint-Lague had applied the equations of air resistance to insects and found that their flight was impossible, but that "One shouldn't be surprised that the results of the calculations don't square with reality".<ref>Ingram, Jay The Barmaid's Brain, Aurum Press, 2001, pp.91-92.</ref>
It is believed[citation needed] that the calculations which purported to show that bumblebees cannot fly are based upon a simplified linear treatment of oscillating aerofoils. The method assumes small amplitude oscillations without flow separation. This ignores the effect of dynamic stall, an airflow separation inducing a large vortex above the wing, which briefly produces several times the lift of the aerofoil in regular flight. More sophisticated aerodynamic analysis shows that the bumblebee can fly because its wings encounter dynamic stall in every oscillation cycle.
[edit] Buzz
One common, yet incorrect, assumption is that the buzzing sound of bees (as well as that of other flying insects) is caused by the beating of their wings, when in fact, less than 1% of the audible sound actually comes from them. The sound is the result of the bee regulating its breathing through holes on its abdomen called spiracles. The effect is similar to that of a person blowing through a trumpet. In fact bumblebees don't buzz as much as flies or wasps. It is really the queen bumblebees that go with a slower more buzzing movement.
[edit] Species
Genus Bombus
- Small Garden bumblebee, Bombus hortorum
- Large Garden bumblebee, Bombus ruderatus
- Cullum's bumblebee, Bombus cullumanus
- Short-haired bumblebee, Bombus subterraneus
- Great Yellow bumblebee, Bombus distinguendus
- Shrill Carder bee, Bombus sylvarum
- Buff-Tailed bumblebee, or Large Earth Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris
- Bombus affinis
- Bombus bimaculatus
- Bombus borealis
- Bombus griseocollis
- Bombus fervidus
- Yellow-faced bumblebee Bombus flavifrons
- Bombus fraternus
- Frisky bumblebee Bombus impatiens
- Bombus insularis
- Bombus lucorum
- Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
- Bombus pascuorum
- Bombus pensylvanicus
- Bombus perplexus
- Northern bumblebee Bombus polaris
- Bombus pratorum
- Bombus rufocinctus
- Orange-belted bumblebee Bombus ternarius
- Bombus sylvicola
- Bombus vagans
- Bombus occidentalis
- Bombus appositus
- Bombus bifarius
- Bombus kirbyellis
- Bombus fridgidus
Genus Psythirus
[edit] Associated Parasites
- Tracheal mites - Locustacarus buchneri
- Protozoans- Crithidia bombi, Nosema bombi, Apicitis bombi
[edit] See also
- Imidacloprid effects on bee population
- Regent (insecticide)
- Bees
- Characteristics of common wasps and bees
- The Flight of the Bumblebee, a musical composition by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
[edit] Reference
<references/>
[edit] Further reading
- "Bees." World Book Encyclopedia. 1998 ed.
- Hasley, William D. "Bees." Collier's Encyclopedia. 1990 ed.
- Abbott, Carl, and Bartlett, John. "Bumble Bees." Encarta Encyclopedia. 2004 ed.
- Freeman, Scott. Biological Science. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2002.
- Macdonald, M. & Nisbet, G. 2006. "Highland Bumblebees: Distribution, Ecology and Conservation." HBRG, Inverness, www.hbrg.org.uk. ISBN 0-9552211-0-2.
[edit] External links
- Bumblebees of the world - find species by region, species groups, colour pattern
- Distribution and decline of British bumblebees
- The Bumblebee Conservation Trust
- Bumble Bees - diagnostic photographs, Creative Commons
- Commercial bumblebee rearing information available
- The Bumblebee Pages - Comprehensive Site
- Discover the Bumble Bee
- Alternative pollinators Also links to non-apis vendors.
- Bumble Bees: Bombus Bimaculatus
- Record UK Red-tailed Bumblebee sightings here - Springwatch 2006
- Bumblebees, popular science article about bumbebees
- Is it aerodynamically impossible for bumblebees to fly?
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