![]() A bee veil and hat are highly recommended during summer and fall when doing these activities. This is especially true when mowing fields or trimming weeds around trash or wood piles. Precautions should be taken when working or playing in areas that are likely to be inhabited by bumble bees. A worker bumble bee can sting repeatedly without sacrificing her life. Guard bees stand ready to protect the nest against predators including skunks and man. Safety Precautions Around Wild Bumble Bees Nestsīumble bees are normally harmless when foraging. The overwintering queens emerge the next spring to complete the life cycle. The production of reproductives signals the end of the colony’s life. The successfully mated queens fly to the ground and hibernate 2-5 inches deep in the soil. They leave the nest to take mating flights. The colony produces reproductives (new queens and males) in late summer. The workers enlarge the nest and by midsummer the colony will have 20-100 workers. Nectar is collected and stored in small sac like “honey pots” built from wax and pollen. The adult workers defend the colony, collect pollen and nectar, and feed the larvae. Once the first brood develops, they take over all the colony duties except egg laying. It takes about 21 days to develop from egg to adult. The queen ore pollen and nectar to feed this first brood cycle. The young larvae receive all the fats, minerals, proteins, and vitamins that are necessary for the pollen. After 4-5 days, the eggs hatch into larvae, which begin to feed on the lump of pollen. The solitary queen begins the colony by collecting pollen and forming it into a small lump. Normally, nests are established in an abandoned rodent or bird nest in the ground. These queens are often seen feeding on spring flowers or searching for a suitable nest site. Nests are started in early spring by these solitary, fertilized queens. Bumble bees produce annual colonies in South Carolina. The bumble bee colony us made up of three types of individuals (queen, sexually undeveloped female workers, and males). ![]()
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