During the development of the young bumble bees, the queen will eat the honey she stored in her pot. Much like a chicken, the queen bumble bee will lay her eggs on the pollen and then sit on them to keep them warm.
She will also collect pollen, and make a pile of pollen mixed with honey called “bee bread.” Next she builds a “honey pot” from wax and will use it to hold a small store of honey. She begins by finding a suitable nesting spot, often an abandoned mouse nest or similar hole. Her depressed rate of metabolism allows her to live for long periods while burning very little fuel. While the bumble bee queen hibernates she is neither eating nor working. Only the queen bumble bees hibernate until spring.
This is usually just a small hole in the ground or another protected spot just big enough for her. Each of these queens will mate and then find a safe nesting place in which to spend the winter.
Instead, the last brood of the summer colony will contain a number of queens. They eat and work all winter long-activity which requires a large cache of stored food.īumble bees do not maintain colonies throughout the winter. Although a winter colony is much smaller than a summer colony, it will nevertheless contain thousands of individuals. Although honey bees and bumble bees are very closely related, their winter behaviors are very different.Ī colony of honey bees will live throughout the entire winter, actively keeping the nest warm and safe.