Meadow bumblebees can be found in many places and meet the hobby gardener in the home garden. They turn out to be useful and robust. There are factors which may threaten the widespread species. The harmless and harmless meadow bumblebee can be promoted by suitable measures.

Meadow bumblebees are very peaceful insects

Table of Contents

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  1. the essentials in brief
  2. Characteristics of the meadow bumblebee
  3. Meadow bumblebee over the course of the year
  4. Sting by meadow bumblebee
  5. Build a bumblebee house
  6. frequently asked Questions

    7. the essentials in brief

    • Meadow bumblebees are ancestral species that inhabit a variety of habitats. The small bumblebee nests near the ground.
    • Young queens overwinter and start a new colony in the spring. Worker bees hatch after as little as seven weeks, while drones are produced in the summer. The bumblebee people are short-lived.
    • The species can sting, but is considered non-aggressive. A sting usually heals on its own. A bumblebee sting can cause severe symptoms in allergy sufferers.
    • Meadow bumblebees will adopt self-built bumblebee houses in suitable environments. They are not specialized in any food crops.

    Who is behind the meadow bumblebee?

    As its name suggests, the meadow bumblebee prefers open meadows

    The meadow bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) is considered a cultural successor and is widespread in gardens. It prefers open landscapes and likes to inhabit meadows of all kinds, but also sparse forests. This means that the species, which is also known as the "little 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 locations at 2,300 meters altitude
    • on open fields, in meadows, on embankments and on pastures
    • preferably in shrubs, bushes and hedges

    background

    The Life of the Ubiquists

    As a ubiquist, the meadow bumblebee inhabits various habitats, including open cultural landscapes and forests. Such animal species are widespread and not tied to any special environments. Meadow bumblebees can cope with a variety of environmental conditions and have not specialized in any particular food crops. However, there is one exception, because barren biotopes with very dry conditions such as nutrient-poor grassland are rarely flown to by a meadow bumblebee.

    A year in the life of the meadow bumblebee

    The life of a meadow bumblebee is not very long. Queens hibernate once before founding their own colony with their daughters on their own. Workers and drones take on important tasks in the colony, but live only 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 hibernation quarters to find a suitable place to build their nest. Dense undergrowth, clumps of grass or hedges provide optimal conditions. Abandoned bird nests or squirrel nests are just as readily accepted as undisturbed roof structures. Meadow bumblebees build their nests above ground. They are rarely built underground in old mouse nests. Bumblebee nest aids are gladly accepted. Depending on the weather, the search for nesting sites can be delayed until the end of April.

    Meadow bumblebees often nest in abandoned wren nests.

    The nest of a meadow bumblebee:

    • small and compact
    • composed of many bubble-like brood chambers
    • yellowish tinged, browning over time
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    Between spring and summer

    After successfully building the nest, the young queen lays eggs to incubate them. She sits on her clutch and generates heat through muscle vibrations. It takes about seven weeks for the first workers to hatch. It is their job to incubate the eggs laid by the queen and to feed the larvae. The workers usually fly between late March and August. New young queens and drones are produced between the end of May and the beginning of June or partly until the end of July.

    Meadow bumblebees are “pollen disrupters”:

    • collect pollen and deposit it in abandoned brood cells
    • next door, new brood cells are created in which larvae grow
    • Larvae cradles are repeatedly opened for feeding

    forage plants

    Meadow bumblebees have a short proboscis and are dependent on plants with short crown tubes or freely accessible supplies of pollen and nectar. They are not food specialists and will fly to plants from different families. So far, more than 130 plant species have been described as food sources for meadow bumblebees. These include countless herbaceous plants, but also some shrubs, woody plants and trees such as currants or chestnuts.

    nectar content pollen supply heyday
    winterling moderate with a sugar content of 26 percent high February to March
    snowdrop mediocre mediocre February to March
    True Lungwort very high very high March to May
    dead nettles very high with sugar content between 30 and 56 percent very high March to August
    cranesbill 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 small amount May until October

    Important pollinators

    Meadow bumblebees are important pollinators

    Meadow bumblebees take on important pollinating functions and are mainly useful on rose plants such as cherries, apples and blackberries. Nectar robbing often occurs when food is buried too deep in the crown tube. The bumblebees eat holes in the flowers of larkspur, toadflax, comfrey or native orchids and thus avoid pollination.

    tips

    If you want to plant your garden in a way that is friendly to bumblebees, you should focus on an abundance of flowers. A combination of early, summer and late bloomers is ideal.

    The end of summer

    A colony of meadow bumblebees 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 in late summer they go in search of suitable winter quarters.

    Can meadow bumblebees sting?

    Bumblebees rarely sting when they feel threatened. Unlike bees, their stingers do 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 sting can cause an itchy, swollen reddening that usually goes away on its own. Allergy sufferers can suffer severe reactions.

    The warning behavior of a bumblebee:

    1. raise their middle leg and point in the direction of danger
    2. turn onto their backs and aim the spike device at the attacker
    3. let out a loud hum
    4. if there is no retreat, an attack occurs

    Build a bumblebee house

    Bumblebees also feel comfortable in abandoned aviary

    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 among the smaller species, the entire bumblebee house does not have to be too big. It is important that there is a distance of about one centimeter between the cardboard and the wooden box. In order to ensure this thermal insulation, the bottom of the wooden box is lined with a styrofoam plate (35.50€) on which the box is placed in the middle.

    tips

    Bumblebees use a nest corner as a droppings spot. Reinforce the bottom of the box with tape to keep feces from soaking the material.

    Prepare the interior

    You can let off steam when lining the interior and combine different materials with each other. Moss, dried lavender blossoms or the fruits of clematis are also ideal for providing the bumblebees with a warming nest. Pet owners can reuse hair from dogs or cats. The box should not be overfilled with nesting material. A loose drape is sufficient.

    Interior design:

    • Guide the inlet hose through the cardboard in the lower third
    • Access should be down into the nest and protrude an inch or two into the box
    • Fill fine wood chips, grass clippings, bark mulch or straw between the cardboard box and the wooden box up to the hose
    • Dig a hole in the middle and line the cardboard box with bird feathers or wool
    • Close the box and poke ventilation holes

    frequently asked Questions

    At what temperatures do meadow bumblebees fly?

    Overwintering young queens become active in March. After establishing their nest, they can fly out even at low temperatures around freezing point. Even snowfall does not stop the insects from looking for food. They generate body heat through the vibrations of the wing muscles. The later hatching workers are active at minimum temperatures of five degrees. They fly out early in the morning, before the sun rises, and finish their foraging flights as dusk falls.

    How can I support the meadow bumblebee?

    The greatest danger for meadow bumblebees is in the spring, when suitable food sources are not available. The planting of early-flowering species, which even light frosts do not bother, is therefore an ideal supportive measure. Willows, crocuses and early rhododendrons are 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 survive frosts down to minus seven degrees.

    Are bumblebee nesting boxes suitable for the meadow bumblebee?

    Man-made nesting sites are readily accepted. However, the nests should look as natural as possible. Place the bumblebee house on the ground in an undisturbed spot. 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 foraging plants in the immediate vicinity so that the queen can collect enough pollen and nectar for her new colony. As so-called doorstep collectors or short-distance fliers, meadow bumblebees do not swarm very 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 transverse band, which may be missing in some color variations. As a result, the meadow bumblebee can be confused with a ground bumblebee, which, however, is 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 displaces the black hair

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Animals in the garden