Celebrating the Common Eastern Bumble Bee: Our Garden's Fuzzy Friend

It is day 26 of Gardening for Wildlife Month!

The common eastern bumble bee emerges as one of our garden's most industrious visitors during Wildlife Gardening Month. These remarkable insects, with their distinctive black and yellow stripes and fuzzy bodies, are true champions of pollination, capable of flying in cooler temperatures and less-than-perfect weather conditions when other pollinators remain inactive. Unlike most native bees that live solitary lives, these social insects form colonies of 50 to 500 individuals, working together to maintain their underground nests, often repurposing abandoned rodent burrows.

What makes these fuzzy garden visitors truly special is their unique ability to perform "buzz pollination"—their wings beat an impressive 130 times per second, creating vibrations that shake loose pollen from flowers. This special talent, combined with their larger size, makes them exceptionally efficient pollinators for many garden favorites. Their robust bodies also allow them to generate enough heat to work earlier in the morning and later in the evening than honey bees, extending the daily pollination window for our gardens.

As we celebrate Wildlife Gardening Month, it's important to note that these beneficial insects face significant challenges. Several bumble bee species are experiencing rapid population declines due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change. We can support these essential pollinators by creating welcoming garden spaces with native plants, avoiding pesticides, and leaving some bare ground and undisturbed areas where queens can establish their colonies each spring. Remember that, except for the queens, which hibernate during winter, entire colonies die off in late fall, with new queens emerging in spring to start the cycle anew.

Source of Knowledge: https://blog.nwf.org/2021/05/5-facts-about-bumble-bees-and-how-to-help-them/