Bumble bees hibernate, honey bees do not
Although honey bees and bumble bees are closely related, their winter behavior is very different.
A colony of honey bees will live throughout the entire winter, actively keeping the nest warm and safe. Although a winter colony is much smaller than a summer colony, it will nevertheless contain thousands of individuals. They eat and work all winter long–activity which requires a large cache of stored food.
Bumble bees do not maintain colonies throughout the winter. Instead, the last brood of the summer colony will contain a number of queens. Each of these queens will mate and then find a nest in which to overwinter. She alone will hibernate until spring.
While the bumble bee queen hibernates she is neither eating nor working. Her depressed rate of metabolism allows her to live for long periods while burning very little fuel.
In the spring, she must work hard. She begins by finding a suitable nesting spot. Next she builds a “honey pot” from wax and will use it to hold a small store of honey. She will also collect pollen, and make a pile of pollen mixed with honey called “bee bread.”
Here is where it gets weird. Much like a chicken, the queen bumble bee will lay her eggs on the pollen and then sit on them to keep them warm. During the development of the young bumble bees, the queen will eat the honey she stored in her pot.
The first batch of young bees will be mostly workers—bees who can take over the household chores and foraging while the queen continues to lay eggs. Later in the season, she will lay some eggs that become queens and drones. These bees will be the ones that are responsible for the next generation.
This life cycle is found in bumble bees throughout the temperate regions of the world. Some tropical bumble bees may have small colonies that survive for several years since there is no need to hibernate.
Rusty
Comments
The information is good, but I want to know is there a certain place for the bees to hibernate.
Emily,
Only the queen bumble bee hibernates over winter and she does it in a small nest in the ground, often in a hole made by a mouse or vole. In the early spring, she begins to lay eggs in there and starts a family of many (female) worker bees and a few (male) drones.
I’m here in Chignik, Alaska and we have bumble bees buzzing around, and I had to find out if they hibernated, they would have to here, the winter is long and brutal. Thanks for the info
Walked into a lot of honey bees and learnt something new. They don’t hibernate.
I’ve found 4 large queen bumblebees on my bedroom window sill, obviously have come out of hibernation early due to the mild spell and probably been feeding on my winter flowering honeysuckle. It’s now freezing outside… I’d hate them to die….what is the best thing to do? At the moment I have them in a large jar with some sprigs of the honeysuckle in it, in a cool place in my house.
Linda,
This is so, so sad. The problem is these queen bumble bees need to forage, build nests, and start to raise brood. But the warm weather brought them out when there is little food available—not much pollen or nectar—and while there is still the danger of freezing. Once out of hibernation there is very little chance of them surviving under these conditions.
Bumble bees are unique in that they have internal thermoregulation that allows them to forage in very cold temperatures. But still, if it is too early for the bulk of the flowers, they will die.
You can probably keep them alive for a few days, but they are wild animals that need to do what nature intended. Without that chance they will probably succumb.
I’m glad you wrote about this; people need to know what is happening to the environment worldwide. I’ve heard more “warm weather” stories this year than ever before.
I know!
I’ve had to make the hard decision to give them a chance to return to the wild…..obviously living indoors in a jar is no answer and if they lived on and laid eggs I’d have worker bumblebees everywhere in my house lol!
I’ve found a very big plastic container and lined it with polystyrene and shredded paper, and put the jar inside with the opening facing inside. Put some dry soil and leaves in there plus a sponge soaked in 50/50 sugar/water mix and more sprigs of the honeysuckle. It’s in a very sheltered spot on my garden under the winter flowering honeysuckle and covered with cardboard and more dry soil. My theory being they may be able to find their way back to where they came from, but if not, at least they will have some protection to at least give them a chance. I’m still hoping I may see some offspring later in the year.
Linda,
I’m impressed. That’s about the most someone could do to give them a fighting chance. You obviously know a lot about bumble bees. Best of luck and please let me know what happens.
I don’t! I just googled to try to find out what the best thing was that I could do . . .it said they usually use holes left by mice etc. and the sugar water mix was the nearest thing to their natural food, so I just tried to simulate that and add a bit more insulation as the weather has suddenly turned extremely cold. (I’m in Southern UK BTW.)
Once the cold spell is over, they will have plenty of food from that bush . . . it swarms with bees and birds from Feb onwards; it’s joy to see them enjoying it so much . . . Maybe I should have put a coloured mark on “my” bumblebees to see if they make it!
I’ll be checking their hideaway though so will let you know if they stay or go.
Thanks for your support!
Linda,
I knew you were in the UK based on your ip address, but I didn’t know which part. Everything you read about bumbles is correct. I’m glad to hear your spring starts early (at least by my standards). That means if you can get them through the cold snap, they have a fighting chance.
On behalf of the bees, thank you so much for making this effort! We need more of you.
Thank-you Rusty!
I’d read a few years ago that bumble bees are rapidly falling in numbers, so I was very surprised to find 4 of them all at the same time, so had to try to do something.
I’m now thinking that the mass of small bees (they are shaped and coloured like bumble bees but much smaller . . . also make a lot of noise!) on my bush in the spring are the worker females, would that be right? I’m normally wary of wasps and bees if they fly at me as I’m hypersensitive to wasp stings, but these little ones took absolutely no notice of me when I was in the garden right next to them pegging out the washing!
I reckon they have a nest nearby due to the early spring food source, now I think about it I have noticed an odd bumble bee hovering around there on the milder days in winter.
In case anyone else is interested this is the bush I have:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonicera_fragrantissima
Now just need to keep my fingers crossed for them!
Linda, if they look like bumble bees they probably are. The queens are much larger than the workers and I have read that there can be a great variability in bumble bee size, even from the same nest.
Rusty, and Linda – what a fascinating story. Any chance of pictures? I’d like to know how to recognize a bumble bee queen.
Also, about your winter-flowering honeysuckle – do you know the species name? And Rusty, any thoughts about whether it would be a good idea to plant one here? My thought was that if it is warm enough for them to fly out, I could have something blooming near the hives. But we have roadsides covered with Amur honeysuckle and it is definitely crowding out native growth, and we do not need any more invasive species.
My bees have been out and about in our warm spell, which is ending today. At least it is raining, so they won’t be caught away from the hive. My greatest fear was that the water maples would start blooming, and they would start harvesting, and either be caught out when it turns cold, or bring in nectar that they’d be unable to condense when they went back into cluster.
It is going from near 70, down to 30 by night. And luckily, the maple buds are still tight. Best of luck to your bumble bees: they are among my valued pollinators, for tomato and eggplant.
Nan
Nan,
Oddly enough, Linda anticipated your request. I haven’t checked it out yet, but I will.
Thanks Nancy!
The queens just look like bumble bees but are much bigger and chunkier’ my ladies were all a good one and a half inches long. Not sure how I first thought they would be queens but when I checked out the life-cycle I read that only the queens over winter so that confirmed it.
There is some blurb about the bush on the link. Left to grow wild, it can be a pain, but I cut mine right back in the spring after it’s flowered and it’s stayed manageable. I get a lot of tits nesting in it too, as the branches grow quite intertwined and they seem to love the nectar or sap from the flowers . . . they spend a lot of time looking as if they are running their beaks up and down the stems anyway!
It’s very easy to propagate. A friend of mine gave me a stem which he just stuck in a pot and it rooted quickly, but it was about 4 years before it started flowering. The flowers come out before the leaves and the scent is amazing! Mine has been flowering now since just after Christmas . . . that’s about a month earlier than usual.
I had a quick peek in my “bumblebee house” today, couldn’t see them so they may have gone home, but it was very cold last night so they may have buried themselves at the back in the soil . . . I wasn’t going to risk disturbing them, so will just wait and see.
Just want to know what to do with a bumble bee that we found on our hearth, looks like she’s come from out of the chimney we guess, we know she should be in full hibernation, in a jar at mo with lid with holes in, and paper, shes resting on that, but not practical, was going to put her in a nest box in garden thats got a nest in for her to hide in, but not sure, we love all wildlife so want to do the right thing, any suggestions please.
Sharon,
Another reader had four bumble bees arrive on her porch and this is what she did:
“I’ve found a very big plastic container and lined it with polystyrene and shredded paper, and put the jar inside with the opening facing inside. Put some dry soil and leaves in there plus a sponge soaked in 50/50 sugar/water mix and more sprigs of the honeysuckle. It’s in a very sheltered spot on my garden under the winter flowering honeysuckle and covered with cardboard and more dry soil. My theory being they may be able to find their way back to where they came from, but if not, at least they will have some protection to at least give them a chance. I’m still hoping I may see some offspring later in the year.”
I would do something along that line. Put some nesting material in the jar and bury it sideways in the soil and cover with leaf litter. Leave a small entrance tunnel and perhaps a little sugar water. It’s hard to know what to do when they come out of hibernation early.
Thanks Rusty, we will try that, hope snow gone a bit more for tomorrow, thanks again.
Hey there,
Seattle Wa, here. I have noticed that when I bring wood in for my fireplace that an odd bee or two will wake up from hibernation. Does that make these queen bees? Is there any saving them at this point?
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
It depends on what kind of bee it is. In bumble bees, only the queen overwinters. But in many other species of native bees both the males and the females overwinter in the pupa or adult stage. In most cases, the males emerge first and hang around waiting for the females so they can mate. When bees emerge early there is little to be done for them. There is probably insufficient pollen and nectar for them and, even under the best of circumstances, the average active life span is only a few weeks.
Once they leave their burrows, they don’t go back in; and even if they did, there is no food for them in there. Unusually warm weather in late winter is hard on the wild bees.
Do all bees make honey? If I find a nest this year will it still be in the same place next year?
Terry,
Honey bees are the major producers of honey. There are several different species of honey bee in different parts of the world, and they all make honey. Bumble bees actually make a little honey, but a very tiny amount, just enough for the baby bees. In tropical areas, stingless bees also make honey.
If you are referring to a bumble nest, it probably will not be in the same place next year. If you are referring to feral honey bees, the nest might be in the same place the next year.
Just a quick up-date, as you asked me to let you know…..we’ve just had 3 milder, sunnier days and today my bush is swarming with little bumble bees! So even if they are not from my “ladies” I rescued….the bumble bees live on in my garden!
That’s really good news, Linda. Thanks for letting me know.
[...] love Rusty’s description of a queen bumble as analogous to a chicken. Because she builds her nest very early in spring when temperatures are still quite low, she [...]