Thursday, May 5, 2011

Two Bumblebees

Last week I noticed the first bumblebees of the season out and about and I made some photos.  I think the one with the orange belt is Bombus ternarius, otherwise known as the orange-belted  or the tricolored bumblebee.  The other one's species is eluding me despite an extensive several - hour internet search.  Any help?  

There are about 50 species of bumblebees in North America.  They carry pollen in specialized structures on their hind legs called corbiculae.  Some have very long tongues so they can sip nectar from plants with tubular flowers and are very good pollinators especially of tomatoes, watermelons and blueberries (so says the Xerces Society book, Attracting Native Pollinators, an excellent guide).  Bumblebees also work in colder and wetter weather than honeybees which tend to stay in their hive when conditions aren't great.  However, everything is relative since today, a chilly spring day of only 45 degrees, I did see honeybees flying out of the hive.

I enjoy watching the bees clambering about the daffodil flowers.  The trumpet part is like a one-car garage with the bee heading in and then it has to back out.  It's not a graceful endeavor.  The hooks on their legs come in handy for gripping onto the flower edges and it seems to help the bees crawl deeper into the flowers.  The pale daffodils are very fragrant and I thought that they would be the only ones visited, but I was wrong.  The scent-free yellow ones seem just as delicious.

So, here are the photos:
















1 comment:

  1. so happy to have found your blog! your photos are just wonderful. very pleased that your bee blog will also focus on native pollinators. looking forward to your next post.

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