Bumblebee

About the Bumblebee

They can regulate their body temperature by vibrating their flight muscles, allowing them to fly in temperatures as low as 5 degrees C when honeybees cannot. They perform buzz pollination (sonication) - essential for tomatoes, blueberries, and eggplants. A single colony has only 50-500 workers (vs 60,000+ for honeybees). Only the queen survives winter. They are in serious decline - the rusty patched bumblebee was the first bumblebee listed as endangered in the US. Over 250 species. Their stingers have no barbs - they can sting repeatedly. They are fuzzy to trap pollen.