Reproduction in bumblebees
Bumblebees, like other social bees, have a complex reproductive cycle, which is based on having a single fertilized queen that lays all the eggs. This is in contrast to honeybees, where multiple queens can live in one colony.
How do bumblebees reproduce?
A bumblebee colony starts in spring with a single fertilized one queen who survived the winter. She starts a new nest and lays eggs. These eggs develop into female workers who carry out the tasks in the colony, such as collecting food and taking care of the young. Later in the season, the queen also produces male bumblebees, also known as drones termed. These drones leave the nest to look for queens from other colonies to mate with.
Mating usually takes place in the air, where the drones hunt down and fertilize the queens of other colonies. The fertilized queens will then look for a suitable place to overwinter. In the spring, they wake up from hibernation and start their own colonies. They lay eggs that develop into workers, and so the cycle starts again.
Image of Annette Meyer via Pixabay
How do bumblebees mate?
