Pollinators: the bumble bee

it is generally windy here by the sea so many of the common pollinators farther inland are much less common here. we do get honeybees, an occasional butterfly and other insects but the most reliable ones in our garden are bumble bees Bombus sp. there are many species here where we live and they all are very interesting insects.

they are important pollinators where ever they are found. they feed on nectar and to a lesser degree pollen. but they gather large amounts of both pollen and nectar to bring it to their nest to feed the larvae

here on our garden rose it is easy to see how much pollen this hard working bumble bee is storing. if you watch them and try to photograph them you will notice how busy they are, going all around each flower. they vibrate so much that it loosens the pollen from the stamen and anther so they can gather it quickly and efficiently. with the wind blowing the flowers and the bees shaking the pollen loose with their heads buried in the stamens, it does make it difficult to get a clear sharp photo.

but they roam flower to flower and plant to plant so they are excellent pollinators and an essential part of a well functioning garden, orchard or farm

a small local farm has a field of sunflowers where they allow pick your own sunflowers. i didn't cut any but i did take some photos. there were thousands of flowers and i would guess that there were bumble bees on about 20% of them and occasionally 2 on one flower.

just roughly guessing there were well over 1,000 bumble bees at work in that one field. i didn't see any honeybees at all, maybe it was too windy that day

but i did see one butterfly

some fun facts about these wonderful pollinators
bumble bees have the ability to keep themselves warm and can fly in temperatures close to 0 C /32 F. they have thick hair and compact bodies to hold the warmth that is generated by burning the sugar that is in the nectar. but when it's cold they need to warm up first by vibrating their wings. i guess it's kind of like us when we shiver

they have a unique and ingenuous method of flying. it has been claimed that they should not be able to fly based on the size of their wingspan vs bodyweight.. that would be true if they flapped their wings up and down like birds. but what they do is use them more like propellers in a figure 8 formation extremely fast. while you cannot see the wings move you can see by how they propel their bodies through the air that the flight is not exactly straight forward. and they can carry there own pollen and nectar equal to their own weight

only queen bees can survive the winter. the workers die throughout the summer and autumn so the queen is alone in the winter and must start in the early spring gathering enough nectar and pollen before she can start to lay eggs
source: https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humler (in norwegian)

it is essential for our own well being that we humans act responsibly and protect these amazing insects from harm in our agriculture. as gardeners we all do our part to provide for them and they in turn provide for us. it is proof of our dependence on nature and the need for us to live accordingly.