Plan a garden to help struggling bee population

[Staff]

Plan a garden to help struggling bee population
By Jim McLain
Special to the Yakima Herald-Republic
POSTED ON Saturday, June 23, 2012 AT 10:57PM

McLain | Plan a garden to help struggling bee population | Yakima Herald-Republic
excerpt from above:

Most gardeners are aware of what is called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the baffling phenomenon where the worker bees of a beehive suddenly disappear without a trace. What happens is not well understood, but what is known is that it has cast an ominous shadow on the future of our most important pollinator of fruit trees and a number of other farm crops in our Valley and throughout our nation.

What is not so well known is that bumblebees, another important pollinator of commercial crops and backyard gardens, may also be in trouble. Unlike honeybees, bumblebees are native to North America, while honeybees were brought from Europe by colonists to the New World in the 17th century. And while the cause of CCD is not known, the cause of the sharp decline of some species of bumblebees is better understood...

[Gloria]

Some good information about bumbles and bee gardens at the link you provided. http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2012/06/23/mclain-plan-a-garden-to-help-struggling-bee-population
I agree completely that gardeners can create a very effective bee habitat with plantings and leaving areas undisturbed for nesting but would have recommended more native plants.

New bumblebee queens mature in late summer or early fall, mate, hibernate over winter, and then begin a new colony the following spring.
Nests are sometimes located in compost piles, in attic insulation, in cavities in walls of buildings and even in birdhouses. But they most often build their nests in the ground in abandoned rodent holes.

After completing her nest of shredded leaves and moss, the queen builds a dozen or more wax cells into which she deposits eggs. Until the first eggs hatch, develop into larvae, pupate and emerge as adult workers, the queen does all the work -- including gathering nectar and pollen to feed her hungry brood. After the first brood of worker bees matures, the queen becomes a nonstop egg factory, and a stay-at-home mom.

Pussy willows, crocus and other early spring bloomers (including dandelions) are important since bumblebees are out working so early in spring. Keep a steady stream of flowers blooming from early spring until frosts end the life of the colony in the fall.

A fellow blogger has found even more new to her native bees in the garden. The longer you garden with wildlife in mind the more species you will find in your garden. One leads to another...on and on...
http://www.restoringthelandscape.com/2012/06/another-new-native-bee-discovery.html

[BeeWonderful]

Three different bumblebees were on my Agastache foeniculum this morning. Many other plants are blooming now in my garden, but these are the blooms the bumbles seem to like the best. After bemoaning the bumbles' absence for much of this summer, I'm so glad these flowers have brought a few of them back!

[jack]

Originally Posted by BeeWonderful

Three different bumblebees were on my Agastache foeniculum this morning. Many other plants are blooming now in my garden, but these are the blooms the bumbles seem to like the best. After bemoaning the bumbles' absence for much of this summer, I'm so glad these flowers have brought a few of them back!

Gloria, what kind of bumble is that in BeeWonderful's pictures?

[BeeWonderful]

Are they Bombus impatiens? I always thought that's the most common bumblebee around here, but I don't have experience identifying these so I'd love some input!

[Gloria]

The third one is bombus bimaculatus, it is hard to tell if the others are B. impatients or not I canot see well enough. Both are common in eastern North america.
I was stung a couple of times today by a bumble. First time ever. I was wearing a loose purple top and the bee managed to get under the shirt and I couldn't get it out. Large red area on my tummy tonight...

[jack]

Originally Posted by Gloria

The third one is bombus bimaculatus, it is hard to tell if the others are B. impatients or not I canot see well enough. Both are common in eastern North america.
I was stung a couple of times today by a bumble. First time ever. I was wearing a loose purple top and the bee managed to get under the shirt and I couldn't get it out. Large red area on my tummy tonight...

Ha! That is a story I can identify with. The only time I have ever been stung by a bee was by a bumble. I had been out in the yard and then gotten into the car to do an errand when I felt something climbing on my leg under my jeans. I began to try to encourage it to climb down rather than up, and it must have felt under attack and stung me.

I have, however, been bitten by yellow jackets more than once. The worst time being when walking through the woods, I must have stepped on a nest and was stung twice on the head. I ran like hell to get out of there and got away with only the two bites. They were sore for a few days or so, I remember.

[BeeWonderful]

I

Originally Posted by Gloria

The third one is bombus bimaculatus, it is hard to tell if the others are B. impatients or not I canot see well enough. Both are common in eastern North america.
I was stung a couple of times today by a bumble. First time ever. I was wearing a loose purple top and the bee managed to get under the shirt and I couldn't get it out. Large red area on my tummy tonight...

I am seeing 2 different sizes of bumblebees in my yard, too. Some of the humbles are so small, not much bigger than a large house fly. Others are rather large, more of the "usual" Bumble bee size. Are B. bimaculatus much smaller overall? Or is the size difference in these bees attributable to something else?

[turttle]

An excellent question, that I second. Another bumble question for Gloria - some of the bumbles have very creamy or very yellow fur, but many more seem to be a dirty yellow. It that a function of the age of the bee ie is it literally dirty, so to speak, or is it more likely a species difference?

I have B. impatiens, B. flavaus, and X. virginica (East Carpenter bee, looks like a large bumble, but shiny rather than fuzzy). I will have to look up how to id B. bimaculatum, because that photo looked pretty familiar.

My garden, which I planted with butterflies in mind (mostly) has attracted more kinds of bees than I ever knew existed. In fact, while my non-native lantana and buddleia attract more butterflies than many of my native flowers do, they don't attract the bees nearly as well. Then again, I see different species of insects have distinct preferences for particular types of flowers (there is one kind of totally black bee - I think it is a megachile spp, but it won't pose for me - that I have been only seeing on my ironweed), so planting a good mix of native species is a must.

http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/upl...Bumble_Bee.pdf - an amazing downloadable fieldguide to bumbles of the Eastern US. There is a western one, too.

[Gloria]

Bumble bees vary in size by sex and function and time of year. Queens are largest,longer and when eating regularly can fatten up to over winter to a very good size. Female worker bumbles are next but the first batch in spring, when helpers are needed quickly to forage while the queen lays more eggs, are often much lighter and appear smaller than later maturing females. Males are the smallest and last to appear in the season as they are not needed until the new queens emerge and will need to mate then fatten up before over wintering.
Coloring on the bees ranges from a creamy white to a golden yellow,black, and some brown or rusty patches. Each species is different and the male and females often have slight differences. It is complicated but a good picture guide is very helpful. The most common age/ wear signs I have seen on a bee is where fur has been rubbed off to cause a bald patch or worn wings. Most workers and males don't live long only a few weeks. So it is the queens most likely to show signs of wear and age. I suppose a dirty bee is possible but more likely a color variation.