duwe18's Identifications

Bombus Impatiens, ordinarily known as the Common Eastern Bumble Bee is native to Eastern North America ranging from Ontario to South Florida and from Ontario to Maine (“Species Bombus impatiens - Common Eastern Bumble Bee - BugGuide.Net,” n.d.). It is also found non-natively in Mexico and California where it has been introduced for it’s pollinating abilities (“Species Bombus impatiens - Common Eastern Bumble Bee - BugGuide.Net,” n.d.). It generally lives in rural, suburban and urban areas as well as woodlands and fields, where it nests (“Common Eastern Bumble Bee,” n.d.; “Species Bombus impatiens - Common Eastern Bumble Bee - BugGuide.Net,” n.d.).

Bumblebees are classified into three types; the queen, the worker bees (females) and the males, each differing in size size (“Bombus impatiens - Wikipedia,” n.d.). The queens body length ranges from 17-21mm, making her the largest. The workers range from 8.6-16mm, and the males range from 12-17mm (“Species Bombus impatiens - Common Eastern Bumble Bee - BugGuide.Net,” n.d.). They are very small animals so they don’t weigh very much. Their weight ranges from 0.04g-0.85g, with the heaviest being the queen (“Bumblebee wings,” n.d.). Each type of bee also has a different life span. The queen bee can live for up to a year, the workers will live between 2-6 weeks depending on their job, and the males will live only a few weeks (“How Long Do Bees Live?,” n.d.).

B.Impatiens diet consists of nectar and pollen collected from flora, as well as honey, the byproduct of nectar and pollen (“Bombus impatiens - Wikipedia,” n.d.; Vaudo, Patch, Mortensen, Tooker, & Grozinger, 2016). The main source of lipids and protein in a bees diet is provided through pollen (Vaudo et al., 2016). Pollen can be taken from many floral species but Vaudo et al. (2016), found that B.Impatiens show foraging preference for flora whose pollen has high protein to lipid ratios. Although some bees eat raw nectar and pollen, the majority of the colony will eat honey, which is especially important for the winter months when flora is unavailable (“Bombus impatiens - Wikipedia,” n.d.). Honey is the product of pollen and nectar mixed with the digestive enzymes in the bee’s stomach, which is then regurgitated to produce honey (“Bombus impatiens - Wikipedia,” n.d.).

Communication within the B.Impatiens colony allows for social learning, which is very important for foraging (Mirwan & Kevan, 2013). Mirwan and Kevan (2013) investigated how social learning affects foraging within the hive. In order to test this they used a novel food source, artificial flowers, where some bees would have exposure to them and others would not (Mirwan & Kevan, 2013). They found that in the absence of observation, successful foragers were able to communicate to other bees in the hive how to navigate novel food sources (in this case, artificial flowers) (Mirwan & Kevan, 2013). This was evident through the ability of the “nest mates” to properly navigate the artificial flowers, which they had no prior experience with (Mirwan & Kevan, 2013). Another form of communication occurs during reproduction. Both the queen bee and the worker bees are capable of laying eggs and having them fertilized by male bees. Cnaani, Schmid-Hempel, & Schmidt (2002) observed and measured worker bee reproduction. They found that in the presence of a queen, worker bees avoided laying eggs and produced fewer eggs in their ovaries (Cnaani, Schmid-Hempel, & Schmidt, 2002). Egg laying and production was re-stimulated when the workers were placed in a queen-less environment (Cnaani et al., 2002). The data collected in this study was achieved through exposing worker bees to certain environments (queen present, queen absent), observing their egg laying behavior, and then sacrificing the animal to measure oocyte production in the ovary. Another Study investigated the cause for this, “reproductive inhibition” whereby several cues were considered and tested (Chemical, contact, visual and behavioral cues) (Padilla, Amsalem, Altman, Hefetz, & Grozinger, 2016). It was found that the cause of reproductive inhibition is likely behavioral interactions between the queen bee and the worker bee where the queen is able to, “establish reproductive dominance” (Padilla et al., 2016).

B.Impatiens has several potential predators that hunt them in different ways (“Bumblebee predators,” n.d.). Crab spiders, Robber flies, and some bird species (ie. Bee-eaters, spotted flycatchers) will hunt bees while they are out foraging (“Bumblebee predators,” n.d.). Some animals will dig up nests and hunt the bees this way; these animals include badgers, skunks, minks, foxes and several others (“Bumblebee predators,” n.d.).

According to the IUCN Red List, the conservation status of B.Impatiens is classified as of, “least concern” and their population trend is stable (“The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,” n.d.).

Did you know that bumblebee’s feet smell (“15 Buzzworthy Facts About Bumblebees,” 2015)? Unlike humans, this isn’t an issue of poor cleaning practices, it actually helps with pollination and finding ones way back to their nest (“15 Buzzworthy Facts About Bumblebees,” 2015). When a bumblebee has visited a plant, they will leave their chemical foot odor behind which signals to other bees that the nectar and pollen has already been taken from it (“15 Buzzworthy Facts About Bumblebees,” 2015). Because they can distinguish their own scent from others, it also helps them return to their nest (“15 Buzzworthy Facts About Bumblebees,” 2015; Pearce, Giuggioli, & Rands, 2017).

References

15 Buzzworthy Facts About Bumblebees. (2015, August 2). Retrieved October 28, 2018, from http://mentalfloss.com/article/66549/15-buzzworthy-facts-about-bumblebees
Bombus impatiens - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombus_impatiens
Bumblebee predators. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2018, from http://www.bumblebee.org/PREDATORS.htm
Bumblebee wings. (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2018, from http://www.bumblebee.org/bodyWing.htm
Cnaani, J., Schmid-Hempel, R., & Schmidt, J. O. (2002). Colony development, larval development and worker reproduction in Bombus impatiens Cresson. Insectes Sociaux, 49(2), 164–170. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-002-8297-8
Common Eastern Bumble Bee. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2018, from https://www.nwf.org/Home/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Common-Eastern-Bumblebee
How Long Do Bees Live? (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/how-long-do-bees-live.html
Mirwan, H. B., & Kevan, P. G. (2013). Social Learning in Bumblebees (Bombus impatiens): Worker Bumblebees Learn to Manipulate and Forage at Artificial Flowers by Observation and Communication within the Colony. Retrieved October 25, 2018, from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/psyche/2013/768108/abs/
Padilla, M., Amsalem, E., Altman, N., Hefetz, A., & Grozinger, C. M. (2016). Chemical communication is not sufficient to explain reproductive inhibition in the bumblebee Bombus impatiens. Open Science, 3(10), 160576. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160576
Pearce, R. F., Giuggioli, L., & Rands, S. A. (2017). Bumblebees can discriminate between scent-marks deposited by conspecifics. Scientific Reports, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep43872
Species Bombus impatiens - Common Eastern Bumble Bee - BugGuide.Net. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2018, from https://bugguide.net/node/view/56797
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2018, from https://www.iucnredlist.org/en
Vaudo, A. D., Patch, H. M., Mortensen, D. A., Tooker, J. F., & Grozinger, C. M. (2016). Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) foraging strategies and floral preferences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201606101. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1606101113