Bumble bees are highly similar tot heir cousins the honeybees. The life of a baby bumble bee starts similarly with that of a baby honeybee as well. Supposedly, in the Americas, the life span of the bumble bee usually covers a little over a year. By the time winter comes, most of the bumble bees die. Those that survive are usually the queen candidates. These over winter queens go their own ways to create their own colonies as the seasons change.



The Bumble Bee Colony

Initially it is the queen who starts to construct the hive for the future of the baby bumble bees. She prepares the wax pots for the food and the wax cells to lay an egg which each contains a baby bumble bee. The transition from bumble bee larvae to a baby bumble bee and to the adult bee may take up to five weeks. During this time, the baby bumble bee does not leave the hide and is cared for initially by the queen.

As the population of the colony grows, the queen ceases to make the cells for the upcoming baby bumble bees and concentrates more on laying eggs. The older bumble bees now take over the job of foraging for the colony and taking care of the other baby bumble bees. The baby bumble bee is well cared for and fed by the other workers of the colony. As larvae, they stay inside their cells and are fed throughout the day. As they pupate to become insects, they are waited on hand and foot by the other worker bumble bees.

The queen bumble bee controls the production of males and females in the colony. She can be aggressive and can drive out potential queens as well as some males. The life span of the baby bumble bee is short enough, although, in the tropics, some species of bumble bees can live years.

Although, bumble bees are similar to honeybees, their honey is rarely sought after by humans. This is mainly because they do not store as much food as the honeybees. This leads to food shortages for bumble bees but since they are not picky eaters, they often resolve the shortage.

The baby bumble bee has a long way to go and can be anything from a worker bee to a male or female bee. The baby bumble bee is initially laid by the queen to serve the colony as worker bees or as forager bees.