# Help please. ? Bumblebee queen?



## Ricker63

so, 155 views and no one knows any answer to this question. any chance of directing me to a site where someone does know.

thanks very much,

rick


----------



## Solomon Parker

Sorry buddy. You won't find much fortune in demanding answers no one has. Don't get offended. We're all beekeepers, honey bees.


----------



## rwurster

You can put her in a bumble house with the stuffing from a stuffed animal and feed her fresh pollen in the spring in hopes she makes a nest... More than likely disturbing her or 'capturing' her will kill her.


----------



## Mikect05

I'm sure someone will know something about Bumble bees, I personally don't know about them, hey I have too much to learn about honey bees right now, but I thought that bumble bees were loners... From your description and where you found it sounds like a carpenter bee maybe? look it up and see if maybe that's what you saw. 
No shortage of honey bees near me, they are all over my flowers and garden, and keep trying to break into my hives, but my girls are usually ready for them, although I did see one make it by the guards today


----------



## Dave in NC Blue Ridge

Could be a queen. I believe I read somewhere that Bumblebees die off in the fall, all except for the queen. And she will have a nest underground, with a small amount of honey, where she goes into a dormant state for the winter. Similarly with wasps and Yellowjackets, except for the honey part.


----------



## jbeshearse

I did not realize you were looking for a welcome and I know very little about bumblebees. However the originator of the post linked below did seem to have quite a bit of knowledge. Maybe he is still around.

Robo Mantis was his username:


http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?259542-My-bumble-bees&highlight=bumblebee

Cheers and welcome to the forums.


----------



## Gino45

I think that you should do a search (google?) on bumble bees. See what they have. There are different species, including carpenter bees. Find out what kind you have and go from there. Are yours northern bumblebees? I don't know.
Over here we have very large carpenter bees. Some are gold, some are black, fwiw. And that may have to do with male and female, I don't know.
Good luck, they probably had a nest in the 'pile'.


----------



## Oldtimer

Ricker here's a thread on it from a while back with some info

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?249643-Bumble-bee-homes

.


----------



## Bill91143

Sounds to me, like you have a wood bore (bumble bee of sorts) hanging around your barn. My advice is kill it. It will bore holes in the wood structure of your barn and weaken it. If it is a regular bumble bee it will attack and kill your honey bees, so I would still kill it. Yesterday I watched a bumble bee fly down and grab a honey bee off the entrance landing of one of my hives and fly away with my bee. So as a bee keeper I say kill every bumble bee and yellow jacket you can. Now go ahead and tell me how bad I am!:lookout:


----------



## Oldtimer

That wasn't a bumblebee, it looks like a bumblebee. Kinda.


----------



## marshmasterpat

Google raising bumble bees on the computer. They are very important and I know There is video on U tube on how to raise bumblebees. 

I think carpenter bees are a different family than bumblebees. If you have carpenter bees the queens will drill (dig) holes into wooden (pine & cedar especially) that are about 1/2 inch diameter. Then they bore down the grain lay egg and think they plug the hole. The young then come out in the spring. Drones hang around the structure and try to catch newly emerging queens to mate. You will see the drones struggling for the "best" hang out to catch the queens. 

Carpenter bees have their place in the forest, but they will do significant damage over a few short years to a 2x6 or 2x8 exposed floor seal on elevated buildings, barn rafters, and exposed timber. Make you feel like superman when you start tearing a place down with a past infestation.


----------



## marshmasterpat

http://vetdergi.kafkas.edu.tr/extdocs/2013_2/351-353.pdf


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


http://crawford.tardigrade.net/bugs/BugofMonth36.html





This might help


----------



## Kiran

> a regular bumble bee it will attack and kill your honey bees, so I would still kill it


Honey bees can also attack and kill your honey bees, does that mean you should kill your hives?
Bumble bees are also important pollinators, the main difference is that they are not as suitable for beekeepers and don't produce a reasonable honey crop.
Should bumble bees be killed simply because they do not have _as much_ use for _us?_


----------



## Daniel Y

Kiran said:


> Should bumble bees be killed simply because they do not have _as much_ use for _us._


I suppose you can if you want. You are the only one I have seen suggest it.

the quote says to kill the bumble for killing your honeybees. now i would probably kill one i saw doing that also


----------



## MJC417

Bill91143 said:


> Sounds to me, like you have a wood bore (bumble bee of sorts) hanging around your barn. My advice is kill it. It will bore holes in the wood structure of your barn and weaken it. If it is a regular bumble bee it will attack and kill your honey bees, so I would still kill it. Yesterday I watched a bumble bee fly down and grab a honey bee off the entrance landing of one of my hives and fly away with my bee. So as a bee keeper I say kill every bumble bee and yellow jacket you can. Now go ahead and tell me how bad I am!:lookout:


Your not bad !! You just dont know the difference between a robber fly and a bumblebee. Unless the south has a species of bumblebee that collects pollen, nectar, and honeybees that I'm not aware of.

https://insects.tamu.edu/images/insects/common/images/cd-43-c-txt/cimg229.html


----------



## Kiran

Daniel, you totally misunderstood my.
I am against killing those bumble bees and I clearly stated that they are important pollinators.


----------

