Anyone know anything about bumble bees?

15 years ago

Yesterday before yet another marathon rain I managed to fit in a little yard time, and I was mulching with bagged leaves I had kept over winter.

This one bag I heard a lot of BZZZZ'ing but didn't see anything flying around so I managed to get about 1/2 bag of material loaded into my wheelbarrow. I dumped the load in a front bed and out flies this HUGE bumble bee - had to be the queen, she was so big I could still see her as she flew off down the street. Anyway, off she went and a short while later I find her back at the original bag of leaves on the side of the house. She couldn't have cared less about me, she kept flying around the bag, in and out of it, like she was looking for something.

Um, am I a homewrecker? Did I destroy the beginnings of her nest? I didn't see any eggs or any wax pieces, but there is still 1/2 bag of leaves left, so maybe the eggs/nest are deeper down in there - ? .

Should I just leave her and the bag alone? I don't mind leaving the nest per se (bees are our friends, and bumbles aren't a bother as fas as I'm concerned) but the bag of leaves is in the middle of a path and it really does need to be cleaned up. Would it be okay if I just gently pushed it out of my way (which would be a good 10-15 feet, since the path is next to a bed I need to work on) or will that disturb her too much? I feel bad if I wrecked her place but I really need to clean up the mess out there.

What should I do? Am I way off thinking there's even a nest of eggs in there?

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Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
lots around this year... but it is probably a carpenter bee... bigger than a quarter.. maybe up towards a half dollar ..

they bore holes in wood ...

gangs of females hang around.. until the boys come around ...

though a bit scary.. they basically leave us alone.. but for the fighter jet buzzing ..

scatter the bag.. she will start over .. its way early here in MI ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
porkchop_z5b_MI
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the info, Ken. Just assumed it was a bumble. If she's there today, I'll take a closer look and see if I can differentiate.
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noinwi
15 years ago
Bumble bees will nest in vacant holes left by mice and other critters, also under things lying on the ground for a time. I had a black trash bag with compost in it sitting on the ground all winter and when I picked it up in spring, there was the start of a BB nest underneath in the soft dirt. I ended up leaving it in place for the season. The Queen will pick a site, manufacture a few 'food' pots, lay her eggs and tend to the young until they are old enough to tend to her while she produces more workers.
If you carefully look through your leaves and don't see any sign of a nest, she probably hadn't started yet, or it could be another bee as was suggested. If you do find a nest, it is probably early enough for a Queen to start a new one somewhere else.
ditas
15 years ago
I remember you have Hot Lips right ~ they love Chelone lyonii? Where you cleaning up around the area? Some of her head-honcho soldiers are huge too ~ you may not have bothered her kingdom & as Ken & niW said it's still early enough to start over!

Chelone/Hot lips will bring them ~ not to worry!
roxanna
15 years ago
easiest way to differentiate bumble bees from carpenter bees = bumbles are fuzzy-bodied, carpenters are shiny black and smooth. both are very large and neither is very aggressive. carpenter bees like to make tunnels in wooden parts of buildings, perfectly circular holes about 1/4 inch which go in a few inches, then make a 90-degree turn and go for several inches to form the nest. ask me how i know!
WendyB 5A/MA
15 years ago
I know that they hurt when they sting you!! I have this really unique petunia this year that is dark dark purple (almost black) with yellow stripes. Get where I am going with this? I was deadheading it the other day and pinched the deadhead and it pinched back! OMG!!!
diggerdee zone 6 CT
15 years ago
A friend of mine has the biggest bees I've ever seen, and I thought they were carpenters because they seem much more interested in her house than her plants! But these guys are extremely aggressive. I was trying to work in her garden yesterday but had to leave because they were dive-bombing my head!

I thought I had gotten over the worst of my childhood fear of bees, but these bees do scare me. They actually hang in mid-air and turn in different directions, like they are on the lookout for targets!

Dee