Bumblebee Facts

About the bumblebee

Bumblebees mostly live in the Northern Hemisphere, with a few lowland tropical species in South America. People have also brought European bumblebees to Tasmania and New Zealand. Most species are social, living in colonies headed by one queen. These colonies are smaller than honey bee colonies, sometimes as small as 50 bees. Females can sting more than once, but they usually leave people and animals alone.

The fuzzy look comes from soft, branched hairs called pile. Bold bands of color warn predators away, and bumblebee species in the same area often look alike, which protects all of them. Harmless insects such as hoverflies copy that look too. Cuckoo bumblebees play a nastier game: their queens invade another species' nest, kill the queen there and leave their eggs for the resident workers to raise.

Did you know?

• Bumblebees are the only living group in the tribe Bombini.
• In nest-making bumblebees, the female's hind leg forms a pollen basket.
• An old name for the bumblebee is humble-bee.