Bumble bees preying on honey bees

[EmsE]

The weather yesterday wasn't great so just visited the apiary to check all was well. One hive had lots of bees forraging and orientating outside the hive. The other didn't have all that may bees about, but there was a big bumble bee that looked to be trying to get into the hive, however the entrance is too narrow. My bees didn't attempt to challenge the bumble- they just ignored it, then suddenly it grabbed one of my bees and flew away:eek:. A few minutes later it came back and did the same again:confused:

I never thought bumbles would prey on the honey bee. Has anyone else seen this before?

[gavin]

Hi Ems

I've seen tussles between bumble bees and honey bees at hives in the spring (including bumble bee queens going into an open hive then getting attacked en masse) but never direct aggression from a bumble bee to honeybees individually. Maybe it was thinking (stupidly!) that it could displace the current occupants by knocking them off one by one? Bumble bee queens do fight over possession of nice-looking burrows and ..... sshhhhh, don't say this too loud in case any journalists are looking in (!) .... the populations of bumble bee queens this year do seem quite high, even in the neonic-polluted east.

G.

[Jon]

The spend a lot of time looking for nest holes at this time of year. I found one stuck in my shed today - on its last legs.
I gave it a drop of sugar syrup which it took up with its proboscis. It seemed to revive it. there was a bit of thymol in the syrup which didn't bother it at all.
My area is teeming with bumbles as well and I have never seen so many hoverflies. Everyone has been commenting on it.
That warm spell 10 days ago seemed to bring them all out.
My pear tree is in blossom and it had loads of honeybees and bumbles on it today. The apple blossom is close to opening as well. Earliest I have ever seen it.

[EmsE]

It's a relief to know that the bumble isn't a threat. She'd certainly have her work cut out if it was to try and displace the bees 1 by 1. At least having a narrow entrance stopped the bumble from getting herself killed by entering the hive.

If there is a concern about the bumble bee population, the bumbles here are unaware of it :p Every year we have so many bumbles around and this year is no exception and of various types. When I was at school we only saw the 2 types, now we're seeing lots- I should start to identify them.

[gavin]

Hi Ems

This is a great time to start as there only seem to be three species about at the moment, and all three seem more abundant than normal. Laura Smith's site is a good place to start and once you gain confidence it is easier to tell from a living specimen than a picture.

http://www.bumblebee.org/quickGuide.htm

The three out now are all present as queens only and this makes it easy to discriminate them:

Bombus terrestris - big black/yellow striped bee with dark yellow bands and a buff tail
Bombus lucorum - similar bee though queens not as big as above, with brighter yellow bands and a whitish tail
Bombus lapidarius - red-tailed bumble bee.

The wee ones which nip around too fast for a decent photo, Bombus pratorum, should be out soon too.

One of my colonies had killed a B. terrestris queen when I looked in the other day. Too many queens around for the available nest sites I suspect.

I also saw my first red mason bee of the year on Tuesday:

http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/showthread.php?500-Red-mason-bees

G.

[gavin]

See if you can be the first in Scotland to record the new kid on the block the tree bumble bee, Bombus hypnorum.

http://www.bwars.com/bombus_hypnorum_map.htm

http://www.bwars.com/imagesbwars/Gallery/David%20Element/Bomb_hypnorum_lateral.jpg

It has been spreading rapidly across England. Ooops, forget that we're supposed to be claiming that bees are in terminal decline but think that I got away with it!

[EmsE]

I've had quite a few different types of bumbles in my garden this year, but they are very camera shy and tend to skidatle as soon as the camera comes out. Here are a couple that I managed to catch on film albeit the quality isnt that great.

[gavin]

1. The moss carder bee, Bombus pascuorum. Makes its nests in tussocky grassland on the surface and uses moss, as the name suggests.
2. The earth bumble bee, Bombus terrestris. Mostly nests in mouse holes, under tree stumps, bottom of hedges. A similar species is the white-tailed bumble bee, Bombus lucorum, but its yellow bands are brighter yellow.
3. The garden bumble bee, Bombus hortorum. A long-faced and long-tongued bee which likes taking the nectar from the base of tubular flowers. Three yellow stripes.

[EmsE]

That's great, thanks Gavin. The first 2 were taken earlier in the year, the 3rd was from today.