Meet the Bumblebees and solitary bees
Bumblebees and solitary bees are vital pollinators that play a crucial role in ecosystems – facilitating the reproduction of many flowering plants by transferring pollen as they forage from one flower to the next. Bumblebees are social insects that live in colonies with a queen and workers, while solitary bees live alone.
What they need
- All bees rely on flowering plants for nectar and pollen, which provide essential nutrients for adults and larvae. Crucially, especially as the climate warms and queens are woken from hibernation earlier, your neighbourhood needs a variety of plants with different flowering times so that something is always in bloom when hungry bees are out and about.
- Depending on the species, bumblebees nest in cavities above or below ground, such as abandoned rodent burrows, under piles of vegetation or, in the case of the tree bumblebee, in cavities in trees. Whereas solitary bees nest in sunny, south-facing areas, bumblebees prefer shaded north-facing sites.
- Bees are highly sensitive to pesticides and have been dying out as a result of their overuse in city and countryside alike.
What you can do to help
- Coordinate with your neighbours, including above and below you, to plant a diverse range of flowers, including different shapes and sizes, that bloom throughout the year to ensure a continuous food supply.
- Provide undisturbed areas with suitable nesting sites, such as unmown grassy areas or wildflower areas. Hedges can also provide nesting sites as they are relatively sheltered and undisturbed, with plenty of tussocky areas, thick grass and abandoned rodent holes to nest in.
- They can also nest in bee and bug hotels, compost bins, dry stone walls, living walls and roofs, rockeries, dead hedges, bare sandy earth and more; the tree bumblebee sometimes uses old birdboxes.
- Avoid using pesticides or weedkillers which can be fatal to bees.
Fascinating facts
- Bees are excellent pollinators due to their unique ability to perform “buzz pollination.” They vibrate their flight muscles at a specific frequency while clinging to a flower, causing the flower to release pollen, which is then collected by the bumblebee.
- Bumblebee colonies are annual, with only next year’s queen surviving through winter. In spring, she emerges from hibernation to establish a new colony, laying eggs that develop into workers who then take over foraging and nest maintenance duties.
- Bees are among the few insects capable of regulating their body temperature. They can shiver their flight muscles to generate heat, allowing them to forage in cooler weather when other insects are inactive.
- Bumblebees prefer purple, violet and blue flowers as they are best at detecting these colours.
- Plants time their flowering to when the right insects are around and with colours to match – so early flowers are often white or yellow because the main pollinators around at that time are flies which don’t have proper colour vision. The bluer hues come later once bees are active.
