80 replies to this topic

[ANTdrew]

Seeing the first new Bombus queens emerging to look for nests is a true harbinger of spring. I just saw my first Bombus impatiens queen foraging on purple dead nettle in my lawn. They emerge very consistently on this second week of March.

Post your own sitings here!

Edited by ANTdrew, March 14 2020 - 7:01 AM.

[ponerinecat]

I've seen so many. They are everywhere. Two species so far, one emerged earlier than the other but is rarer. I can walk outside and see 3-4 zipping around. I threw a plastic bag on a bush and it came away with a bombus queen inside.

[OhNoNotAgain]

I've seen so many. They are everywhere. Two species so far, one emerged earlier than the other but is rarer. I can walk outside and see 3-4 zipping around. I threw a plastic bag on a bush and it came away with a bombus queen inside.

 

Were you trying to catch a bombus queen or ...?

P.S. While I don't know the exact species when I see them, I enjoy seeing the extra fat bumblee queens come out in spring. Some little kids found a dead black one the other day... some of them would creep up to it, poke at it, then run screaming away (and no, that wasn't the girls).

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, March 14 2020 - 9:39 AM.

[ANTdrew]

They are way easier to ID than ants. Check out this guide: https://www.fs.fed.u...Western2012.pdf

I’m curious what you’re seeing over there.

[Thunder_Birds]

I haven't seen any bees yet. We just got like 3 inches of snow    RIP.

They say it's supposed to melt very soon though, so that's good.  

[ANTdrew]

Yeah, ya’ll are quite a bit behind us. We’ve gotten .06 inches of snow ALL year.
Post here when you first see one. It’s a small miracle of nature.

[Thunder_Birds]

Yeah, that's nice. Will do, sounds good!

[ponerinecat]

I was just taking some tries at catching flies. Bee flew in instead.

[OhNoNotAgain]

Awwww man some of them may not be bumblebees at all. 

Some that I've seen over the years may be carpenter bees. 

[Zeiss]

I'd love to see some bumblebees, but I don't think I will in Riverside, haha.

[FSTP]

OH wow you guys are lucky, I've been looking as I do every year and I have not seen any....yet!

 

I'll let you know when I do though. I have a few boxes ready for when I do catch some though. 

[ANTdrew]

Awwww man some of them may not be bumblebees at all.
Some that I've seen over the years may be carpenter bees.

Xylocopa carpenter bees are easy to confuse with Bombus queens. They are overall larger and shinier and much faster, more agile fliers.

[ConcordAntman]

I’m looking forward to seeing bumblebees here but we’re still in the 20’s at night. BTW, did you happen to see this a few weeks ago? It was picked up by both the New York Times and the Washington Post. The Science article cited is behind a paywall but the abstract is available. Both newspaper articles have a link to it. Another species under stress and in decline  
 

https://www.nytimes....sultPosition=10

https://www.washingt...climate-change/

[ANTdrew]

Sh*t. More bad news.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

it happens. But did you know that the honey bee was (and still is) an invasive species and killed most of what originally polinated North America? If the bees died, only a couple of flowers would die. The honey bees going extinct and killing the whole planet is a myth. Some original bee species would take over and it would be fine (the bumblebee for example).

[ANTdrew]

That’s a bit exaggerated, but honeybees do outcompete some natives. A warming planet would take away the competitve edge that bumblebees have in cooler climates.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

yes

[ConcordAntman]

Sh*t. More bad news.

Sorry man, that wasn’t my intent. 

[justanotheramy]

No bumblebees here in Australia, which child-me was very upset to learn.

We do have blue banded bees though, which is some consolation.

[ANTdrew]

That’s awesome! Are they common or rare?