A couple of days ago, Petie Ogg, one of the regular commenters on this blog, asked if I had a photo of a bumblebee sitting on her eggs. I haven't been able to find one, but I’m going to keep on looking.
I've read, though, that the bumblebee queen lays only about six eggs at a time. When they hatch, they help her with caring for the next set of eggs, and so on. She gradually builds a little colony (never bigger than the size of half a grapefruit) and at the end of the season, she creates queen and drone eggs. Then she and all her workers who’ve helped her over the summer die off.
The baby bumblebee queens and drones hibernate through the winter. Come Spring, they start the cycle all over again.
And, in the true spirit of the Ideas of March, here’s a warning:
If you find a comatose bee
nestled in the dead leaves
during the winter,
leave it alone.
Don’t assume it’s dead.
It may very well be
a hibernating
bumblebee queen.
BEEattitude for Day #521:
Blessed are those who leave us BEE (we said that already, didn’t we?), for they shall encourage the next bee-generation.
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