Bumblebees: food, nests & Co.

The striped flower lovers are welcome guests in the garden. We have summarized the five most important facts and questions about bumblebees for you.

Bumblebees are easy to recognize by their sometimes clumsy flight through the garden. The heavy insects take off by creating a negative pressure through very rapid, circular wing movements.

What else you should know about the peaceful pollinators in your garden, we have put together for you in this article.

Bumblebee species: this is how you can identify and recognize bumblebees

Although the bumblebees are related to the honeybees, they not only have a different way of life, but are also easy to distinguish from bees. Bumblebees are much fuller than the slender bees and also have lavish hairs. However, it is much more difficult to differentiate between all 41 species of bumblebee native to Germany. Not only do many species look very similar, as visitors to flowers, bumblebees usually do not linger long enough on the flower to allow themselves to be determined in detail.

This is how you can distinguish the six most common German bumblebee species:

• Earth bumblebee (Bombus terrestris): White abdomen, black front with two yellow stripes; there are several types of bumblebees that are difficult to tell apart. They form large colonies and are also sold for pollination purposes.
• Garden bumblebee (Bombus hortorum): White abdomen, front body black with three yellow stripes; the garden bumblebee, as its name suggests, occurs frequently in gardens. It is quite large and, with its long proboscis, specializes in long-tubular flowers such as those of lip and butterflies.
• Tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum): White abdomen, red-brown chest; Tree bumblebees live in forests and gardens and nest in old tree trunks and bird houses.

• Meadow bumblebee (Bombus pratorum): Orange abdomen, one or two yellow stripes on the chest; Meadow bumblebees are relatively small and mainly fly in open terrain.
• Stone bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius): Orange abdomen, front body black; male stone bumblebees have a different color with yellow hairs on their front body, which makes it difficult to distinguish them from meadow bumblebees.
• Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum): Gray-black to reddish-brown abdomen; the color of the breast of the bumblebee varies with the region. In the north it is often dark, in the south it is more reddish. In general, the common bumblebees have a wide variety of colors. Bumblebees live in many different habitats across Germany.

Bumblebee nests: this is how you recognize them

Depending on the species, bumblebees like to nest in empty cavities, be it abandoned bird nest boxes, hollow tree trunks or holes in the ground. Every now and then in summer you can spot a bumblebee's nest in such places. They can be recognized by the spherical honeycombs. As soon as the first workers fly out, the queen stays in her nest. Bumblebee nests are under strict protection and must not be removed. Since only one queen survives the winter, the nest will be abandoned in the fall anyway. In the following spring, the bumblebee queen will colonize a new nest.

Bumblebees can also be found in Bumblebee nest boxes be settled. For details, click here.

Can bumblebees sting?

Bumblebees do have a sting, but they are very lazy. Unlike wasps and some honey bee colonies, which become aggressive quickly, bumblebees are not aggressive. Bumblebees only sting in absolute defense when they are scared to death. Bumblebees threaten to sting. This is done by lifting a middle leg. The threat of lying on your back and raising the sting becomes even more urgent. Usually, however, bumblebees are peaceful. If you approach them very carefully while they are sitting on a flower, you can even stroke their abdomen.

Can you buy bumblebees?

Bumblebees are important pollinators and increase crop yields. For this reason, they are often released in agricultural greenhouses to replace missing pollinators. In addition, like other wild bees, they fly at cooler temperatures than honey bees. That is why some species of bumblebee are commercially available. Dark bumblebees are particularly easy to breed and sell because they accept artificial nesting aids and form colonies with up to 600 individuals. Bumblebees can also be purchased for your own garden, but these are often very expensive for private individuals. It is better to pay attention to a suitable environment in order to be able to greet more bumblebees in the garden. If the environment is suitable for bumblebees, they will settle on their own.

How can you feed bumblebees?

If there is a sufficient supply of flowers, it is not necessary to feed bumblebees. Since bumblebees are generalists, i.e. pollinate countless different types of flowers, the only decisive factor is the variety of flowers in your garden. If there are flowers all year round, bumblebees shouldn't be short of food. With an insect-friendly seed mix like that Plantura bee pasture is that not a problem. It contains a wide variety of herbs and flowers so that the bumblebees and bees in your garden are optimally cared for for months.

In addition, when they visit the flowers, bumblebees also absorb compounds produced by plants such as p-hydroxy-cinnamic acid, which strengthens the resistance of the bumblebees. At most, cool weather in spring can be critical. However, supplementary feeding is possible and easy to implement, at least for bumblebee colonies that are bought or settled in nesting boxes. As feed, two parts of fructose (fruit sugar) are mixed with two parts of conventional sugar and three parts of water - in a ratio of 2: 2: 3. For example, the solution can be poured into an upside-down Lego brick so that the bumblebees can drink. The trough is then placed in the front of the bumblebee's nest.

The most important things about bumblebees in brief:

• In Germany, six of the 41 domestic bumblebees can still be found quite frequently
• Bumblebee nests are preferably located in abandoned burrows and tree holes, as well as nesting boxes
• Bumblebees can theoretically sting, but are exceptionally peaceful
• For pollination purposes, bumblebees are propagated and spread on an industrial scale; a purchase is therefore possible, but not the best option for bumblebee protection
• Bumblebees can be fed with a mixture of two parts fructose, two parts sugar and three parts water

If you want to establish bumblebees in your garden, one can Bumblebee nest box help. For details, click here.