Talk:Bumblebee

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Contents

[edit] Anatomy section

This section would greatly benefit from a labelled anatomical diagram of a sagittal view a bumble bee, similar the one on the bee page. Does anyone have enough facility with PS/Gimp to create such a diagram? I imagine the picture on the bee page could easily be "bumblized" for use here, but I personally don't have the skills to do it.Corbiculad 14:49, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Any reason why the clean-up tag was removed from the anatomy section? 99.232.9.225 (talk) 05:36, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Myth section

This section is stupid beyond belief. There has never been a myth (obviously) that bumblebees can't fly. Yet the militant(s) controlling this article won't let me delete that section. The whole article is discredited by that ridiculous paragraph. Who cares what some nerd calculated at a dinner party in Switzerland one night. This is an encyclopedia, not a collection of anecdotes. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 149.99.247.70 (talk • contribs) August 8, 2007.

Keep. Regardless of the source of the myth, if the myth is widely known then it should be addressed in the article. Personally, I do remember having heard of this myth sometime in the past. I did a quick google for bumblebee myth, and did see many hits related to the subject. So I think that, on the basis of the apparent popularity of the myth through a very crude study, the information should stay until it is proven not notable. If the scope of the myth could be indicated in the article (the country, continent, region, etc where it is known) then that would further justify keeping the myth in the article. And no, I'm not a militant, nor do I have any special interest in this article. --Dan East 11:06, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
Having reviewed the history of this article, your removal of this information has been reverted three times by three different people. It is obvious which way the consensus is leaning, so please do not remove it again unless it is supported by the majority as discussed on this talk page. --Dan East 11:11, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
Keep. This myth is widely-known, widely-cited, and MORE than qualifies as "notable". Just because it is totally stupid does not mean it does not merit inclusion. Wikipedia, after all, has an article about "Bigfoot", too, and "crop circles", etc. Dyanega 16:28, 8 August 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Citations?

First edit, but i think all the citation needed stuff in the first paragraph is pretty useless; half of it doesn't really need citing, and the other half is just common knowledge 80.0.37.138 08:33, 25 October 2006 (UTC)


Most of the citations can be taken from http://hercules.users.netlink.co.uk/Bee.html where the research was taken from " The Humble Bee " by F.W.L.Sladen , reprinted by the Logaston Press in 1989. ISBN 0 9510242 3 X Father Shandor 22:03, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

I agree it's important to cite sources, but the first paragraph especially seems a bit over the top in cite-needed tags. I've taken most of them out. --Arvedui 23:49, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bumblebee living quarters

I've been wondering for quite a while, does the bumblebees live like wasps, not exactly sure wich race but they are black/yellow striped? This is bugging the hell outa' me :). It does say something about wax houses in the article but a picture or a carefull explanation would be very welcome. --DerMeister 15:27, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] VERY UNSATISFACTORY RESULT FROM EXTERNAL LINK

The penultimate link on the article page "Bumble Bees: Bombus Bimaculatus" appears to advocate the use of insecticides to eliminate or "control" a nest in an undesirable location. Is the extermination of a nest really necessary for the sake of having to make a (temporary) detour, until the nest dies naturally? These creatures are in serious decline as it is, without resorting to such drastic measures. Only this week I accidentally unearthed a nest whilst removing earth for a new garden fence. Luckily, the spade missed the queen and her eggs but the nest was totally exposed and I had three options: 1) Kill the lot of them (as advocated in the external link mentioned above) 2) Ignore them and carry on digging 3) Move the nest. Having only the previous week read a major (front page) article in The Independent (UK) about the serious decline of these insects, the first option was simply out of the question. The second option was neither possible - the fence had to be installed. I took my chances and opted for the third and moved the nest somewhere safe six meters away. I'd never done anything like this before, and it was not particularly easy. I can honestly say that in the whole course of the day that it took to prepare the new site (having modified a bird box and burried it), and night it took to move the old nest, I was not stung once by the bumblebees - it was the mosquitoes that that bit me to bits!! I learnt more about these remarkable bees in this short space of time than I have previously all my life, and it was certainly a very rewarding experience. So please, do not think that it's beyond your capabilities to do the same if Father Shandor 22:07, 25 October 2006 (UTC)given the similar circumstances. Killing a nest should never be an option.

bees should be killed, there are a menaice to humans. No one wants to get stung.....
Bees were here long before humans, and will almost certainly out live us. I think our anonymous 'friend' has a lack of perspective. Wasps and African X bees are bad tempers on wings, but largely Bees are not much of a risk to a human with more than a single figure IQ... Father Shandor 22:07, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
Anyway, bees are nice and even kind of cute if you don't bother them. It's wasps that are the alien death-machines... ;-) --Arvedui 23:51, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
No one wants to starve either; which is what will happen to us if the pollinator decline trend continues. Superficial thinking can hasten our species end. Bees are protected by law in some areas, and probably should have greater protection in most areas. To the first writer, thanks for caring. Pollinator 02:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

i dont see a decrease in food...

I never had any problems with bumblebees here in Cologne, I guess all the species here are gentle. Wasps on the other hand...--DerMeister 16:19, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
I'm not what you would call an animal rights activist (quite the opposite really) but I grew up in an area with lots of active bees each summer. Only once was I stung by a bumblebee and that is because I stepped on it barefoot. They're really mellow creatures. Yellowjackets, on the other hand, were aggressive and we had to destroy hives with smoke a couple of times. Atamasama 21:00, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

This page is for discussion of the article, not of bumblebees. I realize people have respected that for about a year now, judging by the dates on posts, but this sort of thing must not continue. 76.116.150.180 (talk) 17:39, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What sort of bumblebee is this?

A bee seen in the north of England
A bee seen in the north of England

Maybe this image could be used in this article somewhere. Lupin 17:04, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Clarification?

I'd like clarification on the following paragraph:

Bumblebees are beneficial to human beings because they can pollinate plant species that other pollinators cannot. For example, bumblebee colonies are often emplaced in greenhouse tomato production, because the frequency of buzzing that a bumblebee exhibits effectively pollinate tomatoes.

So what mechanism allows them to pollinate some plants that others cannot, and what does the frequency of their buzzing have to do with anything?

Airosche 15:36, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)


With tomatoes the anthers are joined together in a tube, and the pollen grains are produced inside the anthers, rather that the more common pattern of the grains produced on the outside. The pollen is released through pores, and it falls down through the tube to the outside. Wind can create enough motion to release some pollen, and fans have been used in greenhouses, but it's less efficient than other means. For many years electric vibrators (one trade name "Electric Bee") were used, but that's expensive in labor and some stems get broken. A bumblebee is ideal. A bumblebee is a heavy bee, so its weight tilts the blossom downward, positioning the tube opening at the bottom. This alone would be a significant help in pollen release. The bumblebee then hangs on tightly and vibrates its wing muscles, causing the whole flower to shake. The bee's fuzzy abdomen (belly) is bumping against the pistil and the opening of the tube, so that some pollen grains are adhering to the bee and some being knocked back onto the pistil. The frequency of vibration has to do with the natural resonant frequency of the flower, which can amplfy the effect. The tomato originated in South America, and its pollinator was probably a fairly large halictid bee that could sonicate. However, when the plant was carried around the world by early expolorers, they did not carry the pollinator with it. Probably there was only a limited amount of self fertility in the original tomato, however with only wind to do the job in many cases, any tomato that was capable of self pollenization would tend to reproduce much better and the self fertile trait increased with breeding. Self fertility is a biogical defect in the wild, but is sometimes bred into plants by humans to better suit our purposes - in this case scarcity of pollinators. It take much less input to make fruit with self fertile blossoms.

That said, the statement is somewhat misleading in that it implies that bumblebees are the only pollinators. In actuality many bees can do the job, it's just that bumblebees are very efficient. Honeybees are reluctant to visit tomato blossoms because there is little or no nectar and the pollen is scant, unless it's sonicated, which honeybees rarely do. But honeybees do sometimes work the blossoms and they can pollinate them as well.

Another principle that is poorly understood by many people is that the number of fertilized seeds is one determinant of the size of the fruit, along with fertility, water, temperature, etc. Lack of fertilized seeds can be a limiting factor, causing a lot of small fruit. In other words the more pollen grains that are delivered to the pistils, the more incipient seeds will be fertilized and the more flesh of the fruit will be produced.

One of the mythologies among folks involved with tomatoes is that tomatoes self pollinate. They do not do this very well, or greenhouse tomatoes would not need aid. The tomatoes need an outside agent that creates motion, such as wind, a human with a vibrator, or a bee. So it is not truly self pollinating, only self pollenizing.

Does this help? Pollinator 17:08, Jun 13, 2005 (UTC)

What an answer - I'm impressed. -- Solipsist 19:01, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
That's fantastic! I'm sorry I didn't get around to reading that until just now, completely forgot I had asked the question. Airosche 22:25, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] I know theres a fly...

...that resembles a bumblebee. It looks like a bumblebee but in fact its just a big fly. I read that the reason why it looks like the bee is for protection. Animals will assume its a bumblebee and will flee so they wont get stung but the fly does not have a stinger at all.

Anyone know what I'm talkinga bout? --TKGB 00:40, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

Possibly you are thinking of bombyliid flies. Some species of them superficially resemble bumblebees. The one illustrated here is not the best example of the similarity, but you can do an image search on Google for other species.
Or maybe droneflies, which superficially resemble honeybee drones. This did not discourage one predator from making a tasty meal of one.
There are some of the larger Tachinid flies that could be mistaken for bumblebees, if one is not looking at them too closely.
Syrphid flies (sort of) resemble wasps.
And sphinx moths are sometimes mistaken for large bees. These are not flies (diptera) however, but lepidoptera. Maybe this will help. Pollinator 02:17, 18 October 2005 (UTC)
Apparently the fly I'm looking looks exactly like a bumblebee. All these are not what I'm looking for. Maybe that Tachinid is what I'm looking for. Okay thanks. --TKGB 05:41, 1 November 2005 (UTC)
There are also many species of hover fly (Syrphidae) that mimic bees and wasps http://www.amonline.net.au/factSheets/hover_flies.htm : —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kieransamuk (talk • contribs) 22:31, 11 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Humblebee>Bumblebee

To be honest, this sounds like a folk etymology. Is there a reference to support the idea that 'humblebee' was the original name?

According to the OED, "bumble-bee" comes from "bumble (meaning to buzz, as a fly)" + bee. This usage dates to 1530. Humble-bee was an alternate name, dating to 1450 but the origin has nothing to do with gentleness, it refers to the humming sound the bee makes.

According to Mr. Burns (scroll up a tiny bit), of course, it should be "Bumbled-bee"... --Arvedui 05:55, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

The German word for bumblebee is "hummel", which I presume is somehow related to calling bumblebees "humblebees".

[edit] A question

After the queen bee wraps up her eggs, does she fly off and die or hang around until after her eggs "hatch"? Or neither? Or both? --JJ

The queen begins the colony alone in the spring, but the other tasks of colony management are taken over by workers as soon as they are present. The queen remains with the colony, laying more eggs, until late in the season, when a group of young queens are raised. Then the old queen dies with the colony. The young queens find suitable hiding places to spend winter; if they survive, they will start new colonies in the spring. Pollinator 19:02, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
Just as an aside: Workers of the first brood (usually the first 1-3 workers that emerge) are usually very small due to the limited resources provided by the queen. Their size prevents them from making any sort of substantial foraging trips (small body = small flight range, small honey crop, small corbiculae) and they will usually just hang out in the hive and take care of larvae. The queen will continue to forage during this period, although her foraging will cease after larger workers begin to emerge. That said, even after the colony has many workers, the queen does not become an "egg-laying machine" and will continue to care for larvae and do maintenence/building tasks in the colony. Corbiculad 10:01, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] A question about observed bumblebee behavior

For several consecutive spring seasons, I have noticed bumblebees (at least that is what they appear to be) hovering above rhododendron plants on my property. I have not seen them alight on the plants, which rarely produce flowers. Whether blooms are present or not, the bumblebees are present every spring for several weeks or more. They hover from about six inches to several feet above the plant tops. They appear to intercept other insects visiting the rhododendrons. They do so in mid-air with sudden great speed and accuracy, then return to hover until they target another insect. I have not been able to determine the purpose of this behavior. At first I thought it was predation, but I don't believe the adults feed at this stage of life. I can't tell what happens to the intercepted insect either. Can someone explain?

Look for a white spot on the "forehead" of the bee. I believe you are observing the male carpenter bee Xylocopa virginica rather than a Bombus (bumblebee) species. If you see that white spot, you are observing the territorial pattern of the carpenter bee. He will attempt to drive off other male carpenter bees, and will attempt to mate with just about anything else in that size range that flies. He is totally harmless, having no ability to sting. They are kind of fun to have around. You can play with them by tossing pebbles. Or watch them try to mate with a wren. Hilarious! And the females, if not the males, are very important pollinators. Unfortunately the cosmetic damage they do in nesting in wood and the paranoia that many people have about bees hovering about causes lots of calls to exterminators. Their value is such that they should be protected by law.
Another reason I think carpenter bee, is that you only see them in the spring, whereas bumblebees are relatively rare in the spring (only a few queens around) and become common by mid to late summer when the colonies become populous.Pollinator 21:57, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] WOW

How can most information in this article be in the intro? WOW

I live in the Pacific Northwest Canada and have observered for years that bumblbees here are traveling at least 20 miles over water to forage... when I'm out in my boat a mile or so from shore (Mayne Island in British Columbia)fishing I've observed them passing my boat... they will sometimes do a few circles around my boat before heading off to land (Point Roberts)almost 20 miles away ...I've also seen them coming from there they are definetly going the long distance as I've watched them till they dissapear in the distance headed in an almost straight line

Larry McInerney

[edit] There is no subfamily Bombinae

In case anyone else decides on switching back to a 35-year old classification scheme; please do not. Examine Wikispecies to see the presently accepted classification of Apidae.Dyanega 04:12, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How to treat a Bumble Bee Sting?

I disturbed a bumble bee nest while doing landscaping. I noticed that they were not very aggressive and continued with my work until one of them decided to attack me. Strangely, this bee was attacking my face.I kept waving my arms to get rid of it, but it did not give up until it stung me on my cheek! I applied "After Bite" a product found in stores and it seems to be under control. The bite is very itchy and I have been wondering whether it has any other implications. Most of the material I am finding about the Bumble Bees do not say anything about what to do if stung by one! Perhaps because they are mostly docile!

Appreciate any info about effects of a sting! Thanks!

Bumblebees are totally docile when foraging among the flowers, and will not sting unless one grabs them, or runs barefoot through the grass, which is more of a reflex than an attack. At the nest site, some species of bumblebees can be defensive to protect their home. Waving a hand is the worst possible thing to do, because a moving object is always perceived as a threat. The best approach is to quickly back away from the defended territory. Cover your face mostly with your hands if you wish, as a sting on the face is always worse than a sting on the hands. But don't provoke them by swatting or waving. I know that's hard to do, but it's the best in the long run... As noted below, ice is a good thing. Antihistimines may help control swelling, or buy time in the relatively rare cases of a systemic allergic reaction. Pollinator 17:50, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
omg and my friends laugh at me when i run away from them!

ToTreat a Sting: With bumblebee stings, the insects do not lose their stingers when they attack and can sting repeatedly. Treatment involves washing the site of the sting with soap and water and use of an antiseptic to prevent infection. To reduce swelling and prevent venom from spreading, wrap ice in a cloth and quickly apply it to the sting. Leave in place for 20 to 30 minutes. Source: Komotv.com URL: http://ww3.komotv.com/global/story.asp?s=1230383 Dated: 21 July 06

[edit] More Observed behaviour of the bumblebee

A hot summer's day with lawn in brown patches. Bumblebee flying over it a low level backwards and forwards like a helicopter searching for a body. Eventually lands and burrows down to the roots of the grass, and stays there most of the day. Leaves without any activity being obvious. Next day a bumblebee repeats process, but settles in a new spot. Are they just finding a cool spot? or what? We have had a bumblebee nest somewhere in the garden for some years. BigSteve474

[edit] Bumblebee sets flight record

I'll leave it to this article's regulars to decide if this tidbit of info should be included, but a study at Newcastle University just demonstrated that a bumblebee can fly 8 miles, including the ability to navigate back home. Web news site is [1] Akradecki 23:46, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


It's early Spring in Chicago suburb and the small daffodils are blooming. I cut several and noticed a small (baby??) bumblebee in each cup. The cuttings were several hours old before my daughter noticed them. The bees did not move until I removed them with a pair of tweezers. Why were the bees seemingly hibernating in the cups?--76.224.3.255 (talk) 17:07, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Odds are very good that they were not bumblebees, but one of the several hundred solitary bee species native to Illinois. It is very common for bees, especially males, to rest in flowers. Dyanega (talk) 20:41, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Se qualche italiano passa...

questo insetto si chiama Bombo 83.190.21.85 08:32, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Global Distribution

The following is inaccurate: "Bumblebees are typically found in higher latitudes that range from warm to cold climates where other bees might not be found.". In fact, the two genera are globally ubiquitous and not confined to any one specific area. While it is partially true that bumblebees are better able to operate in colder termperatures than some other species of bee due to their advanced thermoregulatory ability, it is not true that bumblebees are able to exist in places that "other bees might not be found". As an example, this species of megachilid (a solitary bee, not a bumblebee) exists in the Yukon territory of Canada, in the Arctic circle. 74.99.73.149 01:47, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, it is accurate. There are places in the Arctic where the ONLY bee species are Bombus. Also, there are NOT two genera; that is a 25-year old classification, badly outdated. Dyanega 17:41, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
Please provide a reference for a bumblebee that occurs in an area completely devoid of all other bees. DjangoSan 22:22, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
Bombus polaris occurs on Ellesmere Island, accompanied by its parasite, B. arcticus, and no other bees. I do not have a citation, but it is verifiable, if one examines published distribution maps.
Nevertheless, a secondary source citation is needed for this to be in a Wikipedia article. Such a citation would have to explicitly say something like "The only bees that occur on Ellesmere Island are bumblebees."On that note, most of the things in this article lack citation. Maybe we should work on that? DjangoSan 23:21, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
The statement I chiefly disagree with is that they are TYPICALLY found in higher latitudes. This is misleading in that they CAN be found in places that others cannot, but there is nothing "typical" about it. The word TYPICAL has a lot of ecological weight and should not be used lightly. If bumblebees were "typical" anywhere, it would be the Ecuador region in Central America or the Kashmir region in Asia, depending on exactly how you quantify "typical". I know this is semantically picky, but I believe using the word typical is simply inaccurate. DjangoSan 20:29, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
I think there is some confusion about how you are reading the statement, and I suppose someone needs to add a semicolon or hyphen. The clause is "Bumblebees are typically found in higher latitudes" - the rest of the sentence is not actually connected to that clause.
Point taken, I didn't read that correctly.DjangoSan 23:21, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
Onto the division of Bombus and Psithyrus: I assume when you say the division is "badly outdated" you are referring to the three Paul Williams papers from the 80's - early 90's and possibly Koulianos & Schmid-Hempel 2000. I think you said you were referencing Bees of the World (are those Michener's references?). Anyway, I agree that according to most taxonomists Psythirus has been classified as a sub-genus after those data were presented. Thus, bumblebees are represented by a single genus: Bombus. That said, I think from a functional viewpoint the division of these groups (social vs. cleptoparasitic) should still be clearly differentiated early in this article as the two have extremely different modes of life. DjangoSan 21:01, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
If you look, I did not change that - I gave cuckoo bumblebees (it's spelled "Psithyrus", incidentally) their own section, to help highlight their unusual biology. Dyanega 23:04, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
Ah, excellent! DjangoSan 23:21, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rating

I don't think this is quite A-class material. An A-class article should be able to stand up to an FA nomination and come close to passing at least. A few of the problems I notice glancing over this is that the lead section seems to describe morphology rather than summarize the article - a physical description of the insect's appearance should have its own section with the lead summarizing the article as a whole. The first 3 references are also just numbers - a reference should at least have a title. There is also a trivia section, a big no-no. It also had no Commons cat link, which every article should have if one exists or can be created. Furthermore, a picture of a nest would round out the images nicely, assuming one exists somewhere.

I've done a bit of work on it and added a to do list, but there are still concerns that will need to be addressed.

I'm not sure when the article was bumped up to A, but A is a very high rating, and the article should be almost perfect to reach such status. I'd suggest a GA nomination or peer review before giving it an A, unless it's appears absolutely flawless. Richard001 02:30, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Because of some confusion in the initial stages, WP:ARTH has ended up treating A as below GA (probably because it makes more sense to go FA, GA, A, B, C than to put extra divisions between GA and FA). It's unfortunate, but I don't think changing single articles helps much in that regard. --Stemonitis 06:52, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rearranging

I've done some rearranging and added some sections. I hope its to everyone's satisfaction! Corbiculad 14:42, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Selected Species Section

It might make more sense if this section was limited only to those species that have their own Wikipedia page (i.e. no "red links"). Seeing as there is already a page listing all the Bombus species, isn't it redundant to have a (very randomly selected) species list on the Bombus page? 99.232.9.225 04:45, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Two points: (1) the species list is a very recent addition, and (2) the species page is not wikified. If someone wants to wikify it, then I'd agree that removing the redlinked species from this article would be a good move. Dyanega 16:23, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
Done and done. Corbiculad 19:57, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Content of Anatomy Section

The anatomy section contains a lot of what I would consider extraneous/overly general information. It is less of an anatomy section, and more of a random assortment of biological facts about the bumble bee. Shouldn't this section focus on (and only on) the unique gross anatomy of the bumble bee? Just a thought. 128.100.72.149 (talk) 20:32, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] reviving exhausted bumblebees

Occasionally you come across an exhausted bumblebee which has run out of energy, usually in early Spring. You can revive and refuel it by mixing a little honey with warm water in a saucer and placing the bee in the mix. Usually the bee will start lapping up the honey mix and in a short time it will be strong enough to fly away. This is a great way to observe a bumblebee feeding at close quarters. User:Gill Winter 21:19, 8 December 2007