Meadow bumblebees can be found in many places and are encountered by hobby gardeners in their home gardens. They prove to be useful and robust. There are factors that can threaten the widespread species. The harmless and harmless meadow bumblebee can be promoted through appropriate measures.
What is a meadow bumblebee and where is it found?
The meadow bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) is a small species of bumblebee that occurs in various habitats such as open landscapes, meadows and sparse forests. It nests near the ground and is known for its important pollinator function. They are not aggressive and rarely sting.
Who is behind the meadow bumblebee?
The meadow bumblebee, as its name suggests, prefers open meadows
The meadow bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) is considered a cultural follower and is widespread in gardens. It prefers open landscapes and likes to colonize all kinds of meadows as well as open forests. This means that the species, which is also known as the “small forest bumblebee”, is one of the so-called ubiquists. With a body length of 14 millimeters, it is one of the smaller bumblebee species.
Meadow bumblebees occur here:
- from the lowlands to alpine altitudes of 2,300 meters high
- in the open fields, in meadows, on embankments and in cattle pastures
- preferred in shrubs, bushes and hedges
Background
The Life of the Ubiquists
As a ubiquist, the meadow bumblebee inhabits various habitats including open cultivated landscapes or forests. Such animal species are widespread and are not tied to any specific environments. Meadow bumblebees can cope with different environmental conditions and have not specialized in any particular food plant. However, there is an exception, because barren biotopes with very dry conditions such as poor grasslands are rarely visited by a meadow bumblebee.
A year in the life of the meadow bumblebee
The life of a meadow bumblebee is not very long. Queens overwinter once before setting up their own state with their daughters. Workers and drones take on important tasks among the colony, but only live for a few weeks.
Life expectancy of meadow bumblebees:
- Queen: twelve to 13 months
- Worker: about six weeks
- Male: up to five weeks
After winter
From March onwards, the young queens leave their wintering quarters to find a suitable place to build a nest. Dense undergrowth, clumps of grass or hedges provide optimal conditions. Abandoned bird nests or squirrel nests are just as welcome as undisturbed roof trusses. Meadow bumblebees build their nest above ground. They are rarely built underground in old mouse nests. Bumblebee nesting aids are welcome. Depending on the weather, the search for a nesting site can be delayed until the end of April.
Meadow bumblebees often nest in abandoned nests of wrens.
The nest of a meadow bumblebee:
- small and compact
- composed of many bubble-like breeding chambers
- yellowish in color, browned over time
Between spring and summer
After successfully building the nest, the young queen lays eggs to hatch. She sits on her clutch and generates heat through muscle vibrations. It takes about seven weeks for the first workers to hatch. It is now their job to hatch the eggs laid by the queen and feed the larvae. The workers usually fly between the end of March and August. New young queens and drones are produced between the end of May and the beginning of June or sometimes until the end of July.
Meadow bumblebees are “pollen storers”:
- collect pollen and deposit it in abandoned brood cells
- New brood cells are being created next door in which larvae grow
- larval cradles are repeatedly opened for feeding
Traditional Plants
Meadow bumblebees have a short trunk and rely on plants with short crown tubes or freely accessible pollen and nectar supplies. They are not food specialists and fly to plants from different families. To date, more than 130 plant species have been described as a food source for meadow bumblebees. These include countless herbaceous plants but also some shrubs, woody plants and trees such as currants and chestnuts.
| Nectar content | Pollen supply | Flowering time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winterling | moderate with a sugar content of 26 percent | high | February to March |
| Snowdrops | mediocre | mediocre | February to March |
| Lungwort | very high | very high | March to May |
| Deadnettle | very high with sugar content between 30 and 56 percent | very high | March to August |
| Storksbill | very high with sugar content between 57 and 71 percent | high | May to September |
| Mountain Knapweed | very high with a sugar content of 45 percent | low | May to October |
Important pollinators
Meadow bumblebees are important pollinators
Meadow bumblebees take on important pollinator functions and are mainly useful on rose plants such as cherries, apples and blackberries. Nectar robbery often occurs when the food is hidden too deep in the crown tube. The bumblebees eat holes in the flowers of larkspur, toadflax, comfrey or native orchids and thus avoid pollination.
Tip
If you want to plant your garden in a bumblebee-friendly way, you should focus on an abundance of flowers. A combination of early, summer and late bloomers is ideal.
The End of Summer
A meadow bumblebee colony can contain between 50 and 120 animals and is extremely short-lived. It slowly dies out between July and August. After the males have mated with a young queen, they also die. Only the young queens are still active because they go looking for suitable winter quarters in late summer.
Can meadow bumblebees sting?
Bumblebees rarely sting when they feel threatened. Unlike bees, their stinger does not have barbs. After a sting, the bumblebee can pull it out of the skin without it getting stuck and tearing off. Their venom is not dangerous to most people. A bite can cause swollen redness with itching, which usually goes away on its own. Allergy sufferers can suffer severe reactions.
The warning behavior of a bumblebee:
- lift their middle leg and point in the direction of danger
- turn on their back and point the stinger at the attacker
- make a loud humming sound
- if there is no retreat, an attack will occur
Building a bumblebee house
Bumblebees also feel at home in abandoned birdhouses
To build a nesting aid, you need a cardboard box that is placed in a wooden box. This simulates an abandoned bird or squirrel nest. Since meadow bumblebees are one of the smaller species, the entire bumblebee house does not have to be too big. It is important that there is a gap of about one centimeter between the cardboard and the wooden box. To ensure this thermal insulation, the bottom of the wooden box is lined with a polystyrene plate on which the box is placed in the middle.
Tip
Bumblebees use a corner of the nest as a place to defecate. Reinforce the cardboard base with tape to prevent droppings from soaking the material.
Prepare the interior
You can have fun when lining the interior and combine different materials. Moss, dried lavender flowers or the fruits of clematis are also ideal for providing a warming nest for the bumblebees. Pet owners can reuse hair from dogs or cats. The box should not be filled too full with nesting material. A loose drape is enough.
Interior design:
- Run the inlet hose through the box in the lower third
- Access should lead down into the nest and extend two to four centimeters into the box
- fill fine wood chips, grass clippings, bark mulch or straw between the cardboard box and wooden box up to the hose
- Dig a depression in the middle and line the cardboard box with bird feathers or wool
- Close the box and make ventilation holes
Frequently asked questions
At what temperatures do meadow bumblebees fly?
Overwintering young queens become active in March. After they have founded their nest, they can fly out even at low temperatures around freezing. Even snowfall doesn't stop the insects from searching for food. The vibrations of the wing muscles generate body heat. The workers that emerge later are active at minimum temperatures of five degrees. They fly out early in the morning, before the sun rises, and end their foraging flights at dusk.
How can I support the meadow bumblebee?
The greatest danger to meadow bumblebees is in spring when no suitable food sources are available. Planting early-flowering species that don't mind even light frosts is therefore an ideal support measure. Willows, crocuses and early rhododendrons make good sources of nectar. In late spring, the Mayberry or honeyberry proves to be an ideal source of food because its flowers are very rich in nectar and can survive frosts down to minus seven degrees.
Are bumblebee nesting boxes suitable for meadow bumblebees?
Artificially created nesting options are welcome. However, the nests should look as natural as possible. Place the bumblebee house on the ground in an undisturbed location. Meadow bumblebees look for sheltered areas in hedges, between tufts of grass or in the moss. Decorate your nesting aid with moss, pieces of bark or stones.
Ideally, there should be enough pollen plants in the immediate area so that the queen can collect enough pollen and nectar for her new colony. As so-called door-to-door foragers or short-distance fliers, meadow bumblebees do not swarm particularly far in search of food. They fly to plants that grow at a distance of 50 to 100 meters from the nest.
How do I recognize a meadow bumblebee?
The thorax just behind the head has a yellow cross band, which may be missing in some color variations. This means that the meadow bumblebee can be confused with a ground bumblebee, which is, however, significantly larger. Meadow bumblebees are between 14 and 17 millimeters long. The top of the posterior segment is colored orange. Typical for males is the yellow and shaggy-looking hair, which almost completely replaces the black hair
