I have hundreds of bumblebees in my garden, and they are gentle like honey bees and love my sunflowers and squash. Good polinators. I have noticed that in the evenings, a lot of them find a nice cozy leaf or flower and curl up and spend the night there. In the morning, I have a bunch of sleeping bumble bees all over the garden. According to wiki they have colonies, but I'm guessing they do not always spend the night there? Anyone else ever see this?
In article , "Ook" says... :) I have hundreds of bumblebees in my garden, and they are gentle like honey :) bees and love my sunflowers and squash. Good polinators. I have noticed that :) in the evenings, a lot of them find a nice cozy leaf or flower and curl up :) and spend the night there. In the morning, I have a bunch of sleeping bumble :) bees all over the garden. According to wiki they have colonies, but I'm :) guessing they do not always spend the night there? Anyone else ever see :) this? :) :) :) Are you sure they are bumble bees and not carpenter bees which can look similar.
I notice this when the nights are cooler, and I wonder if they run out of energy & can't make it back to the hive. Just a guess, though.
Hmm...here it is. Any guesses? Not the best of pics, they are folded up and sleeping. Tomorrow I'll try to get some better pics. They spend all day buzzing around the various flowers, they love my sunflowers.
In article , "Ook" says... :) Hmm...here it is. Any guesses? Not the best of pics, they are folded up and :) sleeping. Tomorrow I'll try to get some better pics. They spend all day :) buzzing around the various flowers, they love my sunflowers. :) :) :) Couldn't tell by the pics. The male carp bee will have a white face along with a hairless abdomen, where the bumble bees abdomen will be hairy.... heat must be getting to me because I didn't even think about this time of year being when drone bumblebees will make their appearance and they will live away from the bee colony, so very possible it is bumblebees you are seeing...the drone has no stinger, so a test of sort would be to pick one up bare handed ;)
Ook:
I know very little about Bees other than as you say, they are good polinators. I live in California and last year I had these very laid back, pugdy, very fuzzy, big black bumble bees show up during the summer when my beans were in bloom. Literally, if I was trying to pick my beans they would bump into my face (or arm or or) and then they would simply carry on. It was lovely having them in my garden. I garden in a community garden so naturally I never saw them when they sleep but I have read that some bees like to rest in soil and leaves. Maybe someone else will post with more information.
Since Lars mentioned some types of bees I went to googles image gallery and I found these:
They are definitely fuzzy. Um...I think I'll pass on the stinger test :P. I'll take a close look tomorrow. I have this flower bush out front that usually has 10-20 of the critters buzzing around it at any time. Something about the bush attracts them, not sure what it is.
I find bees asleep on zinnias. The first time wass early evening and I thought the bee was dead but I watched him wake up the next mornng.
Kate
Some of the bumblebees sleep in the open to defeat a parasite that will eventually kill them. By sleeping in the open they remain cooler slowing the parasites development and allowing them to continue provisioning for their young during the daytime.
Ook wrote:
This fuzzy fellow spent the night here:
And this fuzzy fellow spent the night on this sunflower leaf:
Fat bumblebees on my lavenders work diligently until the sun goes down, then go to sleep on the flower, & start up work as soon as the morning sun reaches them again. The colonies are small and it's quite possible not all the bees can fit all at once so some of them have no choice but to sleep on flowers, but maybe it's just that they get "caught" in the chill of evening. They're tame as can be, I sometimes pet them as they work.
-paghat the ratgirl
That's a bit to close up to make a guess, but it looks similar to the sweet spire that is in wonderful bloom here. (NH) Smells like heaven. Also covered in bumbles, mud daubers and other flying critters.
I've taken many digital pictures, and PETTED very very carefully, sleeping bumble bees in the early hours of the day as they slept on flowers. I love how they turn their leg backwards as if they're some reluctant teenager who just can't wake up for school...........I carefully stroke the fuzzy back and guess they're not warmed up yet. I've done this for years, after noticing it myself once I moved into this house and have so much nature around me. madgardener up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36 where I found three sleeping bumblies on my willow leaf rudbeckia's this morning after the intense thunderstorms and rains of last night
that looks like the flowers of a succulent/sedum. the other fliers love it too (the assorted little wasp like fairy fliers. All my sedums, aka Matrona, Raspberry ice, Autumn Joy, Lynda Windsor, Kamtschaticum Variegata,Angelina, Turkish stars, Little pickles, the old fashioned green ones that have white star-like flowers, they all attract the fliers, the bumblies, the wasps and teensy wasp like things. I've taken some awesome pictures of these gorgeous flowers. And the Sempervivums (hens and chickens) which are succulents as well and hardy also have flowers that are similar. madgardener
She would've needed sedation if she saw what went on in my boat this past weekend. I was fishing and a dragonfly landed on my shoulder and just sat there for almost 5 minutes. If I'd seen it before my friend, it would've been a shock, but I was warned beforehand. Very cool creature.
No need to wait for them to be sleeping. Bumbles are pretty docile. You can pet them as they work, just do not squeeze.
I have shown my grandchildren how to do it, when my stepdaughter is not looking. She would be horrified.
I want them to learn that 'bees' are not necessarily something bad even though Mom goes screaming across the yard at the sight of anything that might have a stinger. That includes dragonflies for cripes sake.
John
I think that's so neat! Yesterday as I snipped the spent white butterfly bush blossoms to make room for the emerging two on either side of that one, I sweated enough to attract a particularly needy Artillery butterfly who didn't need nectar, she needed my minerals and salts. She kept lighting on my shoulder, my arm, my hand, my fingertips. I got some really neat pictures of her in most of the places. She was a bit camera shy at first but was so intent on my salts that she allowed me to get REALLY close. love that stuff. I'm not quite as patient for the wasps to land on me, like my dad once said he'd allow to be done when he was young. Not quite secure in myself to do THAT. I don't run from them, but I DO run from those HUGE hornets that are as large as my THUMB. I know they're aggressive and apt to sting for no provocation. maddie
Actually, the whole boat was covered with bugs. The air was around 50 degrees, but the boat seats were warm from the sun. When the bugs first arrived (by the hundreds), I thought "Aw sumbitch - I don't want to put on repellent", but they weren't there for an attack. They were just warming up.
Ahh the dragonflies, my favorites alongside the bumbles. They land on me all the time. If I sit on my deck with my feet up (usually bare, you can take the boy out of WV but you cannot take WV out of the boy) they will land on my toes.
Watch what they do after the land. I do not know why but they all do this. They "ratchet down" their wings three times. Land, pause, wings down click, pause, down click, pause, down click and then rest. Every time the same.
My grandchildren know all about them, to Mom's horror.
John
You MAY be seeing Cicada Killers. The females are huge, but usually just intent on putting cicadas in their burrows. They can sting, but likely would need rough handling to do so. The males are smaller and, while they can be territorial and 'aggressive' have no stinger. Very cool creatures actually and since they eat bugs that eat plants, probably desireable. Of course, you be seeing actual hornets and if they ARE the size of you thumb....well, glad I don't have those around here!
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