Welcome to The Bumblebee Pages. The menu above will take you to the major sections of the web site. If you are not sure which page you should be looking at try Google's search box at the top right of this, and every page.
What is a bumblebee?
Bumblebees are large, hairy social insects with a lazy buzz and clumsy, bumbling flight. Many of them are black and yellow, and along
with ladybirds and butterflies are perhaps the only insects that almost everyone likes. Quuen and worker bumblebees can sting, and the photograph on the right shows the extended sting of a Bombus lapidarius queen. You don't often see stings as bumblebees are reluctant to use them. For more on this go to the sting page.
Bees and Einstein
It has been widely reported that Einstein said that without bees to pollinate our food crops humans would die off in just 4 years. He was wrong, we will die off in 7 years. We have been warned, but will it do any good? We are the most intelligent animal that has ever lived, but we have not yet acquired the ability to learn from our mistakes, and we continue to elect politicians who promise us jam today and jam tomorrow. Isn't it time we grew up?
Where are bumblebees found?
Bumblebees are
found mainly in northern temperate regions, though there are a few native South
American species and New Zealand has some naturalised species that were
introduced around 100 years ago to pollinate red clover. They range much
further north than honey bees, and colonies can be found on Ellesmere Island in
northern Canada, only 880 km from the north pole!
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above the sting of a Bombus lapdarius queen, and below a Bombus terrestris/lucorum worker foraging.
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