1. Shhhh! The queen is sleeping. She is a “widow.” She had a mate. But he died in the fall. After that, the queen found this cozy hole in which to hibernate.
2. You can talk now. It is early spring. The queen is awake. She has done her warmup exercises, buzzing her wing muscles before flying out to look for food. Plants like pussy crocus, rosemary, heather, blackthorn, and daffodil are her go-to pollen and nectar sources at this time of year.
3. With fresh energy, the queen finds a nest site. She burrows into any old mouse hole or snug hollow. The first thing she does is build a small wax cup. This she fills with a supply of sweet nectar. The queen will soon need it.
4. The queen has made a mound of pollen. She lays about a dozen eggs in it and covers them with wax. Look at her buzzing her wing muscles to warm the eggs. She will incubate them for four days. It’s a good thing she stored up that energy drink—nectar!
5. Larvae hatch from the eggs. They grow fast, feeding on the pollen. Over a few weeks, larvae shed their skin three times. Then they make like butterflies, wrapping themselves in silk. Inside their cocoons, larvae undergo metamorphosis—they change from worm-like creatures and form the wings, legs, and the other parts of a bumblebee.
6. After two weeks, young bees nibble out of their cocoons. This first generation is all female workers. And they’ll have lots of work to do: gathering food, cleaning, and guarding the nest. After all, the queen is busy laying more eggs. In fact, she will raise a few hundred female workers before laying eggs that will produce male bees and young queens.
7. Just a few days after leaving their cocoons, male bees leave the nest, never to return. Young queens will leave a little later.
8. Males and new queen bees meet at flowers. How romantic! But only the queen will survive the winter. Does it seem sad that all the bees from the nest except the young queens will die in the fall? It’s not, really. The bees have all done the work God created them to do. And now the young queens are ready to continue the cycle of life as they find a nice hole in which to spend the winter.
