o<\/sup>C.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDuring this period the queen will take very short trips to forage to avoid the eggs getting too cold and after around 4 days the eggs will begin to hatch. When the larvae hatch they begin to consume the pollen stores and pupate to become mature female adults ready to begin foraging for nectar and pollen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this early stage, the queen will only produce fertilised eggs becoming female workers. As the season draws to a close she will begin to create unfertilised males to mate with new queens and some of the fertilised eggs will start to be fed more regularly. This increase in feeding encourages females to start to become virgin queens ready for their mating flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s believed that the current queen is responsible for releasing a pheromone that stops the production of new queens. As the season draws to an end her ability to produce this pheromone decreases, signalling other bees in the nest to increase their feeding schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do they collect nectar?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n White-tailed bumblebees are equipped with some of the shortest tounges of the bumblebee family, despite this apparent handicap they have developed an ingenious method of extracting the nectar they need from flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Nectar robbing’ is a technique developed to allow White-tails to access nectar they would otherwise be unable to reach with their tounges. They utilise a horny sheath that surrounds their tongue to cut an incision into the lower part of the petal, the hole they create is then used to insert their tongue through and reach nectar contained deep within the flower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/li> <\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhere do they build their nests?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n As a queen consumes pollen and nectar in early spring her ovaries begin to swell signalling she is ready to begin making a nest. Queens will typically seek out old rodent nests, holes in brickwork and the base of overgrown hedgerows for potential nest sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Queens are often sighted investigating nooks and crannies within your house during this period and will forgo foraging in favour of seeking out a suitable home for their new colony. If a queen is unable to find a suitable nest site during this period she will slowly stave to death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suitable habitat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n You can find colonies of White-Tailed bumblebees all over the country, and some of the most common areas for sightings include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Towns and urban areas<\/li> Gardens<\/li> Farmland<\/li> Meadows<\/li> Woodlands <\/li> Coastal areas<\/li> Moorland<\/li> Wetlands<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nAre White-tailed bumblebees aggressive?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n No, typically White-tailed bumblebees are only ever aggressive if threatened and are less aggressive than other species like honeybees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As with all bees, observe from a distance and don’t do anything that may be considered threatening like swatting and you’ll be absolutely fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n