The Bumblebees

How often – just for fear – we step back from what we do not know.
How often we have distanced ourselves from these small creatures thinking ONLY to their stinger.. but, reading their story, my feelings are deep sense of tenderness and gratitude.

The Bumblebees are characterised by a fuzz with yellow and black bands. Compared to the bees they have a more robust shape and unlike prejudices they are not aggressive insects.

Probably, their noisy buzz scares us a bit, but do you know the reason behind it? The muscles used to flight make trill the insect’s abdomen.

The vibrations allow the Bumblebees to warm up and, consequently, to fly.

The Bumblebees have a very short life – in most cases, they do not survive the winter.

The only survivors are the fertile females who, looking for a shelter before hibernation, will give light – in the spring – to new creatures.

The shelters are usually small cavities in trees, walls, or in the ground.

The females will build then, small wax cells (amphora-shaped) where they will deposit their eggs. 

These small insects feed on nectar and pollen. The nectar is extracted with the long tongue and put in the crop; the pollen, instead, is collected either randomly or voluntary – it is “random” when taking the nectar, the Bumblebees, involuntarily, rub the pistils of the flower.

The pollen is transported through the hind legs modified to form a pollen basket, and it is brought to the common “cells” within the nest, and it will be available to the group.

The Bumblebees are very important for the humans – in fact – they are pollinators of fruit and vegetables and their presence/use, results in better and constants yields.