Capture only bees with no pollen loads.įigure 5.8 A queen starter box. Queens with established nests will have pollen loads. Different species have different emergence times, but in North America, most will emerge between March and July. Search for them after they have emerged from hibernation and before they start a nest on their own. Queens are the only bumble bees that hibernate through the winter. Spring favorites of bumble bee queens include honeysuckle, dandelion, mountain laurel, clover, rhododendron, Siberian pea, horse chestnut, Virginia waterleaf, mint, apples, cherries, willows, and gooseberry. Finding queens while they forage on flowers is the most reliable method for collecting them. Even with hundreds of boxes, the success rates reported are typically very small. Some people set out empty boxes with the hope of attracting wild nesting bumble bee queens. Before this, you will need to capture wild bumble bee queens. Once your rearing system is established, you can supply yourself with your own queens. Only mated queen bees are capable of producing an entire colony of bees. To successfully raise bumble bees, the most important element is a supply of bumble bee queens. Bulletin of the California Insect Survey. Bumble Bees and Cuckoo Bumble Bees of California. The Natural History of Bumble Bees, a Sourcebook for Investigations. Bumble Boosters: A Guide to the Identification of Nebraska Bumble Bee Species. Here are a few great resources for identifying North American bumble bees. The bees will recover unharmed after they warm up, but while they are slowed down, you can examine them more closely. Take an ice chest out to the field and slow bees down by cooling them for a few minutes. It is helpful to closely examine specimens as you are learning to identify them. Many bumble bees can be identified easily by their color patterns. If you find a rare specimen, please leave it in the wild but take a photo to help document its population status (send the photo to: or ). Bombus affinis, Bombus occidentalis, Bombus terricola, Bombus franklini, Bombus sonorus, Bombus pensylvanicus, and Bombus ashtoni populations have dropped in recent years. Some bumble bees are rare and should not be collected. Take the time and effort to learn how to identify your local bumble bee species (see sidebar). In western North America, good candidates for rearing include B. In eastern North America, good candidates for rearing include B. Of the over 250 bumble bee species in the world, there are only two that are currently reared commercially, though there is potential for many other species to be raised. Catching Queensīumble bee species vary greatly in their ease of domestication. More details can be found in Befriending Bumble Bees by Evans et al. The following is a summary of the basic principles of bumble bee rearing. There is great potential for individuals to work with rearing to supply colonies for pollination. Recent publication of a bumble bee rearing manual has made it possible for more people to get involved in raising bumble bees. Methods have been industry secrets or have been buried in the scientific literature, not easily available to the public. ![]() Currently, it is dominated by a few international companies. Photo by Elaine Evans.īumble bee domestication is in relatively early stages of development as an industry. ![]() bifarius are good candidates for rearing among western bumble bees. Bombus impatiens is the most commonly reared bumble bee in the eastern US. ![]() Queens look much the same as workers, except that queens are slightly larger.
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