On Thu, 08 May 2008 02:15:29 -0500, Charlie Kroeger wrote:
(snip)
>
> I always use nitrile gloves the kind they sell at paint supply places
> with the gauntlets secured with a strong rubber band. You're suited up
> and have your adequate red light and shop-vac rig at the ready. Approach
> the nest and you will encounter the first bumble come to investigate,
> promptly suck it up, that's one. Soon others will appear perhaps a lot
> all at once from several places, don't panic they won't fly but they
> will crawl and you will get a few or maybe more than a few all over you
> but just keep reminding yourself that at night they don't sting so much
> as crawl have patience and suck each one off as it comes into view, like
> say, across your visor.
The first one releases an alarm pheromone that brings the others in, just
like honey bees.
> After you've got all the ones you can see on the outside it is time to
> start digging for the nest. It might be in a thick hedge of honeysuckle
> or a pile of grass in a back alley or even a compost heap doesn't
> matter. Eggs are about 1/2 inch [14-15mm] in diameter light tan to light
> brown balls of wax filled with some nectar and pollen and one bumblebee
> larva. These eggs will be clumped together in clusters. There probably
> won't be more than 20 or 30 arraigned in groups of four or more. You can
> pick these up gently and put them in a bag for later when you transfer
> the bumbles to their new residence.
Those aren't eggs, they are cells. Bumble bees build round cells, just as
honey bees build hexagonal cells. They are used for tiny elongated eggs
which produce brood, just like honey bees. They are also used to store
honey & pollen, just like honey bees. Differences: shape, of course, plus
quantity. Their nests don't store enough to overwinter, so only the queens
overwinter. Bumblebees are therefore more 'primitive' than honeybees, and
their colonies are smaller, but their lifecycles are similar.
|
