Bumblebees Life Cycle
The bumblebee life cycle begins in the spring when a hibernating queen bee emerges from the leaf litter that has kept her warm since the previous autumn and looks for a site to build her nest. Bumblebees usually nest in holes in the ground.
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Laying Eggs
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Once the queen has found a suitable nesting spot, she lays eggs near a honey pot and a ball of pollen that will feed her while she keeps the eggs warm. The queen determines if the eggs will be fertilized when she lays them; fertilized eggs become female workers, while unfertilized eggs become males.
Larva
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The eggs hatch in approximately four days into larva, wormlike creatures that rely on adult bees for food. The initial batch of larvae depend on the queen bee to nurse them with pollen.
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Pupa
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This is the cocoon stage of the bumblebee larva. After the larva have grown and molted several times, they spin a silk case around themselves and change into adults inside the case.
Adult
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Eggs become adults in approximately four weeks. All the bees that emerge from the first batch of eggs are female worker bees who take care of the nest and the next group of eggs.
New Queen
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Later in the season, certain larva will be designated as new queens and fed more food than the others to fatten them up for the duties they have ahead of them. Unfertilized eggs will also be laid so that males are available to mate with the new queens before the season ends.
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- Photo Credit Catherine Chant
