The Life of
A Baby Bumble Bee
Bumble bees are highly similar to their cousins the
honeybees. The life of a baby bumble bee starts similarly with
that of a baby honeybee as well. Supposedly, in the Americas,
the life span of the bumble bee usually covers a little over a
year. By the time winter comes, most of the bumble bees die.
Those that survive are usually the queen candidates. These over
winter queens go their own ways to create their own colonies as
the seasons change.
The Bumble Bee Colony
Initially it is the queen who starts to construct the hive for
the future of the baby bumble bees. She prepares the wax pots
for the food and the wax cells to lay an egg which each contains
a baby bumble bee. The transition from bumble bee larvae to a
baby bumble bee and to the adult bee may take up to five weeks.
During this time, the baby bumble bee does not leave the hide
and is cared for initially by the queen.
As the population of the colony grows, the queen ceases to make
the cells for the upcoming baby bumble bees and concentrates
more on laying eggs. The older bumble bees now take over the job
of foraging for the colony and taking care of the other baby
bumble bees. The baby bumble bee is well cared for and fed by
the other workers of the colony. As larvae, they stay inside
their cells and are fed throughout the day. As they pupate to
become insects, they are waited on hand and foot by the other
worker bumble bees.
The queen bumble bee controls the production of males and
females in the colony. She can be aggressive and can drive out
potential queens as well as some males. The life span of the
baby bumble bee is short enough, although, in the tropics, some
species of bumble bees can live years.
Although, bumble bees are similar to honeybees, their honey is
rarely sought after by humans. This is mainly because they do
not store as much food as the honeybees. This leads to food
shortages for bumble bees but since they are not picky eaters,
they often resolve the shortage.
The baby bumble bee has a long way to go and can be anything
from a worker bee to a male or female bee. The baby bumble bee
is initially laid by the queen to serve the colony as worker
bees or as forager bees.
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