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Bumble Bee Biology and
Natural History
RandyMitchellUniversityofAkron&TheOhioBeeSurvey
Bees are diverse and numerous • 4,000speciesofbeeinNorthAmerica
• 4xmorethanbirds• 6xmorethanbuEerflies• 10xmorethanmammals
WilsonandCarrill,Thebeesinyourbackyard
~Numberofspecies NorthAmerica World
Mammals 400 5,416
Birds 1000 9,956
Bees 4000 20,000
hEp://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0934288.htmlhEps://thefield.asla.org/2014/12/12/pollinators-the-city/
• Warmandfuzzy• Abundant,recognizable• Generalists-visitmanyplantspecies
• VeryeffecZvepollinators• AcZvethroughouttheyear
hEps://beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/the-joys-of-ecological-restoraZon/hEps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Mrs._TiElemouse
WaltMaciorUniv.Akron1926-2007
Why bumble bees?
bumblebeeconservaZon.org
Many crops are pollinated by bumble bees
• Commercialimportanceaspollinators
• MakeupforlossofApis• Wildbees:>$20billionayearinpollinaZonservices
• ~1ofevery3bitesoffoodrequiresapollinator
• Mostwildplantsdependonanimalpollinators(>75%)
• Intrinsicvalueofwildspecies
Bumble Bees are valuable!
Bumble bees are great pollinators
• ComparedtoHoneyBees:• FasterandmoreeffecZve• Matchsizewithmoreflowerspecies• Ableto‘buzzpollinate’• Canhandlemorecomplicatedordifficultflowers(e.g.,monkshood,boElegenZan)
hEp://savebombus.blogspot.com/p/why-should-i-care.html
Seegaribaldietal.2013anddelaplane2000tobeefupfigureSeebreezeetal.2011forlowerfig
Tongue length (mm) 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Honey bee worker Bumblebee workerBumblebee queen
u Queensarelarge
u FirstfewworkersareZny
u Gradualincreaseovertheseason
Thesebeesaresistersfromthesamenest.
Bombusimpa,ens
bumblebeeconservaZon.orgColumbusMetroparksvideo:hEps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYQ6A_PPmI4
BuzzPollinaZonFromSmithsonian:hEps://www.smithsonianchannel.com/videos/slo-mo-footage-of-a-bumble-bee-dislodging-pollen/44877
BBC Video of warming queens
hEps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-o6e57AEGo
AcCve in cool condiCons • 80Fbodytemperaturerequiredforflight• Shiveringallowsthemtomaintainhighbodytempswhennecessary
• Especiallyqueensinthespring• Butitcostsalotofenergy=nectar• InsulaZonimportant
Volynchik et al. 2006. Microscopy Research and Technique 69: 903-912.
‘Warm-blooded’–highenergyrequirements=theyneedalotofflowers!
bumblebeeconservaZon.org
JamesThomsonhasasmallcolonyinaboxhereinColorado.ItookthisimagewithathermalcameraaterhepulledbackthecoEonoverlyingthenest.Queenisatlowerright.
Annual Colony Cycle
• QueensmateinFallorlateSummer• Overwinterindebrisandholes• Spring:Establishcolonies
• Findagoodspot-oldrodentdensorbirdnests,hollowlogs,tussocks,rockpiles
• Queenprovisionsandincubatesfirstbrood
Williamsetal.2014
hEps://medium.com/the-magazine/its-a-bumblebees-world-1147d0e1ab8a
Inside a newly founded bee nest
hEps://entomologytoday.org/2017/12/19/bumble-bee-queens-slower-to-start-colonies-ater-minimal-neonic-exposure/
Wu-Smart, J. and M. Spivak. 2018. Environmental Entomology
A thriving colony • Rarelyoverafewhundredworkers
• Eachworkerlives2-5weeks
hEp://www.alexanderwild.com/keyword/bombus/i-nMjRNz3/A
Annual Colony Cycle • Summer:forageandbuild• Fall:ReproducZves
• Dronesandnextyear’squeens• Producedinlatesummer• Workersandoldqueenandmalesalldie
Williamsetal.2014
Bees can learn from one another
Pollen Baskets
• “Corbiculae”Bumblebee.org
hEp://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/bee.html
Loading the Pollen Basket • Pollenbrushedtoinsideofhindleg• Uses“pollenrake”tofill“pollenpress”
hEps://honeybeesuite.com/how-the-honey-bee-makes-pollen-pellets/
• Straightenslegtoforcepollenuptooutsideofhindleg
• Likesqueezingtoothpaste
Bumble bees have many specialized tools
hEp://www.bumblebee.org/bodyTongue.htm
hEp://infinitespider.com/buEerfly-proboscis-straw-sponge/
hEp://www.bumblebee.org/bodyHair.htmhEp://www.bumblebee.org/bodySZng.htm
Tongue lengths differ among bee species • Someare‘shorttongued’
• Othersare‘longtongued’
• ResourceparZZoning-accesstodifferentflowers
hEps://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/resource-parZZoning-and-why-it-maEers-17362658
hEps://p-s-y-l.blogspot.com/2015/07/july-update-animals.html?m=1
hEps://bugguide.net/node/view/560812/bgimage
hEps://www.growiser.net/photos-by-season.html
Tongue lengths
• Notjustdifferencesinoverallbodysize
• Numbersindicateweekofsampling
• Biggerworkersovertheseasonformostspecies
Harder1985EcologyhEps://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1941320.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A0d5cc22a22e7a9afde390b43bccb491f
Bombusvagans
Bombusgriseocollis
hEps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH497_5zuy0
Foraging on Comfrey
hEps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFIuRDIC3sM
Nectar Robbing Comfrey
Compound Eyes and Bee vision
hEp://www.beeculture.com/bees-see-maEers/
hEps://beecare.bayer.com/media-center/beenow/detail/vision-science-how-bees-perceive-the-world
Color vision for bees – different than ours
hEps://fieldguidetohummingbirds.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/do-we-see-what-bees-see/
Color vision for bees – different than ours
hEps://fieldguidetohummingbirds.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/do-we-see-what-bees-see/
Color vision for bees – different than ours
hEps://fieldguidetohummingbirds.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/do-we-see-what-bees-see/
hEp://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/arZcle-473897/A-bees-eye-view-How-insects-flowers-differently-us.html
OpCmal foraging • Beesmakedecisionsbasedon
• Costs:travelZme,searchZme,handlingZme• Benefits:rewardgained
• Seemtomaximizenetrateofgain=(benefit–cost)• Visitspecieswiththemostrewardandlowestcost• Flyshortdistances• Ateralowreward:
• Leaveearlier• Flyfurther• Turnless
• Tendstomovefromthe‘coldspot’
How far do bumble bees travel for food?
• UnZlrecentlyonlyanecdotes(displacementexperiments)
• Canrangeto10km
• Recently–Harmonicradarstudies!
hEps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160804152719.htm
Woodgateteal.2016PLOShEp://www.theZmes.co.uk/arZcle/flight-of-bumblebee-suggests-they-have-unique-personaliZes-wdcvw298z
Recorded every flight by 4 bees • ExploraZonvs.exploitaZonflights
• Firstflights(green)explorethearea
• Aterthat• somebeesfocusonexploiZnganarea
• Otherskeepexploring
Woodgate, J. L., et al. (2016). "Life-Long Radar Tracking of Bumblebees." PLoS ONE 11(8): e0160333.
ChangesinpollinatorspeciesvisiZngMimulusringens
Mimulusringens
Bombusgriseocollis B.vagans B.fervidus B.impa,ens B.auricomus
B.auricomus
Resources • Books
• Heinrich.1979.BumblebeeEconomics.HarvardPress• KearnsandThomson.2001.Thenaturalhistoryof
bumblebees.AsourcebookforinvesZgaZon.UniversityPressofColorado
• Collaetal.2011.BumbleBeesoftheEasternUS.USDA/PollinatorPartnership(alsoavailableasafreePDFdownload)
• Williamsetal.2014.BumblebeesofNorthAmerica:anidenZficaZonguide.PrincetonUniversityPress.
• WilsonandCarrill.2016.Thebeesinyourbackyard.PrincetonUniversityPress
• Websitesanddocuments• hEp://bumblebeewatch.org/contents/• hEp://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q• hEp://www.xerces.org/bees/• hEp://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/
conserving_bb.pdf• hEp://u.osu.edu/beelab/ohio-bee-atlas/