PUBLISHED AS ASERVICE OF

No. 10E DMOLOGY NOTES THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

FI ight of the Bum b lebee

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Everyone , except the bum bl ebee i tse l f, knows that a bumbl ebee can't f ly . Its body i s t oo b ig fo r suc h sma ll wi ngs a nd f urt hermo re it isn ' t pa rti c ul a r ly st r eam l i ned I ike t he wasp . Don ',t take someone else ' s wo r d fo r it, try f I y­ing bumb lebees at home . Get a st r and of porc h sc reen or othe r f in e wire fo r ty ing the bee . If you do t hi s in l at e fa l I t he r e i s ve r y li t tl e c hance that yo u won 't inte r fe r wi th the bumb le ­bee popu la ti on. The new queens, whic h a r e the onl y ones whic h wi I I su r v ive the winte r, a r e hi be r nat i ng . The ma les and wor ke r s st i I I a l ive wi I I d ie by wi nte r.

If you do not wa nt t o t a ke a chance on get­ting s tun g, t ie up a ma le in st ead of a wor ke r o r queen beca use males do not st i ng. If you a r e ve r y good at identif y i ng the common ki nds of bees t hat occ ur, yo u ca n just grab a ma le off go ld enrod a nd put i t i n you r handkerc h ie f until you get home . Pu t the handke rc h ief with the bee in an empt y jel ly ja r a nd put the ja r i n t he ref ri ge rat o r f or a ha l f hour. Wh i Ie i t ' s in the re , take you r single stra nd of wi re a nd t ie a s l ip knot in it . You might want to make 2- 3 of t hese loops in case one s l ips off t he bee and you can't get it ope ned up fast. Aft e r you t ake the bee out of the r ef ri gerator, you have about 5 min utes to get it tied befo r e the bee wa rms up enough to f lyaway . If it does get act ive, put it back i n t he r efri ge rato r for anothe r 10 mi n­utes . Place you r finge r on the t op of the bee. S I i p the loop a round the abdomen of the bee and pu ll i t secu re ly . Be ca r eful to keep t he wi ngs out of your loop a nd keep the bee top - s ide up. Fi na ll y, secu r e the other end of you r wi re in a ho le made by a need le i n a p iece of ~Iood . You are now r eady f o r expe r imen t s i n t he fl ight of the bumb lebee . By the way, you can use ot he r f l ying in sects such as fl ies t his same way .

Here a r e some quest ions you might t r y to answe r: How fas t can you r bee go? How ma ny seconds does it take to make a ci rc le ? What i s the d i st ance once aroun d you r cou r se? Does it tuck its legs in when i t fl ies? How a r e t he antennae he ld-­up , down , s tra ight out? Does i t buzz when it i s not f lying? How fa r ca n it go? How ma ny r evo­luti ons ca n it make? If you ho ld a pape r or card unde r it s feet (sup por t ing it), t hen take away t he pape r , what happens? What ha ppens i f you b low gent l y in it s fa ce? Is you r bee fast e r or slowe r t han othe r bees? What wou ld you gue s s the r easons migh t be fo r a faster o r s lower bee? Tw i st you r wi r e a r ound so the bee i s ups ide down. What i s the r eacti on by the bee? Can it fl y? How a r e t he antennae he ld ? What do t he legs do? Provide a bott le cap with suga r wa t e r for the bee. Wi l I a bee fl y longe r o r faste r when you f eed it or whe n you don' t? Ca n you th i nk of a way to est imate how fast the wings a r e bea ti ng? Other s have used sound, wi ng ma r ks on a rap id l y rot ating drum or a st roboscope. How wo uld you use sou nd t o guess wi ng speed? Do mosq u itoes make a h igher o r lowe r sound than bumblebees? Wo ul d you guess t hat the wings beat f aste r i f you we re ab le t o ad d we ights t o t he bee? Would t hey beat slowe r or faste r if you c l ipped of f the wing t i ps? What species of bum­b lebee do you have?

Even expe r ts have d iffi cu lty wit h the sma l I f r action of bumblebees whi ch have at yp ica l co lo r patte r ns . It you encounte r one of t he odd i t i es , g i ve it to you r county extension agent to fo r­wa r d to a un ive r s ity. For tuna tel y, most loca l bees have mo r e or les s r egula r co lo r patte r ns . Like people , each bee wi II be sl ightly dLffe r­en t (see chart of bee spec ies) .

Male bumblebees a nd t l ies and moth s whi ch c lose ly resemble bumb lebees , do not st ing. To

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FEMALES

10

Rare Rare

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tALES 10 11 14 15 16 17 18

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(I) Bombus impatiens; (2) B. bimaculatus; (3) B. griseocollis; (4) B. ternarius; (5) B. terri­cola; (6) B. americanorum; (7) B. auricomus; (8) B. borealis; (9) B. fervidus; (10) B. affinis; (I I) B. perplexus; (12) B. vagans; (13) B. rufocinctus; (14) Psithyrus variabilis; (15) P. ashtoni; (16) P. laboriosus; (17) P. insularis; (18) P. fernaldae ..

determine if you have a mimic, put your living which are the size of smal I worker bumblebees insect, contained in a jelly jar, in the refrig­ lack the black and yel low color patterns. erator for 10m i nutes to stop its act i vi ty. If Black and yel low carpenter bees have shorter it has 2 wings instead of 4, it's a fly. If the hair, rounded faces with the bottom of the antennae are clubbed and appear to come from the eyes nea rly touchin g the base of the mandibles top of the head and it has s%,11 scales, it's a and have stout legs covered with stiff hairs. moth. Male bumblebees, in contrast to females, In Psithyrus bumblebees, which are social para­lack the cone at the back of the abdome n and sites of Bombus bumblebees, the hair is less lack the pol len basket on the third pair of riense on the abdomen. So, the abdomen appears legs. shiny I ike the abdomen of carpenter bees.

Bumblebees have relatively long pi Ie (hairs) of contrasting black and yel low patterns on a black shiny body. Two species have additional

Robert W. Husbandorange colors. Honeybees and most di gge r bee s

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Michigan Entomolog ical Society, c/o Department of Entomology, Hichigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824--(15-V-77).