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[4] [10] The bees can eat the raw materials like pollen and nectar of the flowers but most bees in the colony eat honey that is made using the raw materials since it has higher nutritional value. To create honey, the bees consume the pollen and the nectar, and then regurgitate them, mixing them with enzymes in their stomachs.
Most Bombus bees live in temperate climates and cannot withstand the humidity and heat of the tropics. The Bombus transversalis has adapted so that it can be resilient. Because of the structure of its nest with an interwoven canopy covering the colony, the bees are able to remain dry even during Amazonian deluges.
A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus Bombus, part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera (e.g., Calyptapis) are known from fossils.
Bumblebees only store enough honey for a few days. [4] By monitoring the levels of the honey pots a bumblebee colony can either up or down regulate the number of bees out foraging. [3] Lab experiments by Anna Dornhaus and Lars Chittka in 2005 showed evidence of this up or down regulation by monitoring the activity level of the hive after the ...
Furthermore, bumble bees are predated on by birds for food. Foragers are frequently predated by invertebrates. Crab spiders and cryptically colored ambush bugs ambush bees at flowers to catch them. Robber flies resemble bumble bees and clasp the bumble bees, insert them with enzymes, then eat their internal organs.
Nests can be anywhere from 6 inches to a foot below the surface. Tunnels traveling to the nest range from 9 inches to 4 feet long. [9] B. bimaculatus can also nest above ground or in cavities. Bees do not build nests and instead rely on finding abandoned rodent dens, hollow logs, suitable man-made structures, or tussocks.
Cuckoo bumblebee females emerge from hibernation later than their host species to ensure that their host has had sufficient time to establish a nest. Before finding and invading a host colony, a Psithyrus female feeds directly from flowers until her ovaries are sufficiently developed, at which time she begins seeking a nest to invade.
Another study indicated that these bees can navigate their way back to the nest from a distance as far away as 13 km (8.1 mi), although most forage within 5 km of their nest. [23] One mark and recapture study found their average foraging distance to be approximately 663 m. [ 24 ]