Apidae – Bumblebees

The APIDAE FAMILY: BUMBLEBEES

The Apidae family is the largest family of bees.

BUMBLEBEE OVERVIEW:

There are approximately 46 species of bumblebee in North America, all of which are native to the continent! More specifically, for those states that lie east of the 100th meridian, there are a total of 21 species. 

 

 

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Bumblebee Characteristics:

The common and easily recognized bumblebees have several distinct characteristics. Some of the basic traits of bumblebees are as follows:

  • Bumblebees can often appear to be rather larger compared to other types of bees. Depending on the specific bumblebee, they can start at a length of approximately 3/4 of an inch to even greater than 1 inch!
  • If you get the chance to look closely at a bumblebee, you will notice that its hind legs have smooth areas that are surrounded by stiff bristles. 
  • Like many bees, the bumblebee will present the classic striped patter. Besides black, the other stripes may be yellow, white, or even orange! 

Bumblebees and honey bees both have pollen baskets called corbicula. The shape of the corbicula allows them to pack pollen (mixed with some pollen and saliva) into a tight pellet. Other bees have pollen baskets called scopae which are not as specialized. 

Bumblebee Social Structure:

All species, except for those in the subgenus Psithyrus(Ex. Cuckoo bumblebees), are eusocial, meaning they live in colonies comprised of several different “castes” with:

  • 1 Queen
  • Many worker bees

Even with the many worker bees, bumblebee colonies are never as big as honeybee colonies. This is mainly due to the fact that bumblebees are a ground nesting species who require larger cavities than solitary bees and will often utilize old mouse borrows. 

For more information on the colony cycle of bumblebees click here or here

Bumblebee Behavior:

Bumblebees rely entirely on flowering plants for food. Adults feed primarily on nectar but feed their larvae (developing bees) on pollen. This is why the relationship between pollinator and plant is mutually beneficial, the bee gets fuel and the flower gets a transport vector! 

Bumble bees are very important in crop pollination in both greenhouses and open fields, as they are able to forage under wider weather conditions than honeybees. They are generalists and have been recorded visiting hundreds of native plant species. In this way, bumblebees are widely responsible for ecosystem biodiversity and supporting native conservation by providing pollination services. 

Bumblebees in Your Garden:

A good sign for your pollinator garden is a large number of buzzing visitors! It may be difficult for pollinator gardeners to identify every single bee visitor down to the species level. However, it may be possible to identify those few that are present in high numbers within Georgia gardens. 

Species that you may find in your Atlanta pollinator garden include:

  • Common Eastern Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens)
  • Two-Spotted Bumble Bee (Bombus bimaculatus)
  • Southern Plains Bumblebee (Bombus fraternus)
  • American Bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus

Species that may be present in the more northern parts of the state: 

Confusing bumblebee(Bombus perplexus)Half-black bumblebee(Bombus vagans)Sanderson bumblebee(Bombus sandersoni)Yellow-Banded bumblebee(Bombus terricola)Rusty-Patched bumblebee(Bombus affinis)Northern amber bumblebee(Bombus borealis)Black and gold bumblebee(Bombus auricomus)Lemon cuckoo bumblebee(Bombus citrinus)Fernald’s cuckoo bumblebee(Bombus fernaldae), and Brown-belted bumblebee(Bombus griseocollis)

Species that may be present in other parts of Georgia:

Brown-belted bumblebee(Bombus griseocollis) and Variable cuckoo bumblebee(Bombus variabilis)

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Bombus impatiens

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Bombus bimaculatus

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Bombus fraternus

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Bombus pennsylvanicus

MORE INFORMATION

More online resources for bumblebee self-identification can be found here and here. Both of these sites also offer identification services. As an alternative to photograph identification at bumblebee.org, they have provided an illustrated identification key for all North American bumblebees. You can find it here