Bumblebee

Bombus
Female Bombus terrestris cuts a flower to get at its nectar
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Apidae
Subfamily:	Apinae
Tribe:	Bombini
Genus:	Bombus Latreille, 1802
Species
More than 250 species in 15 subgenera.

Bumblebees (or bumble bees, or humble bees) are a group of social and semi-social bees, of the genus Bombus. The genus contains about 250 different species, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. They can also be found in New Zealand and Tasmania. They occur practically everywhere on the Eurasian landmass.

Most bumblebees live in small groups, which generally last only for a year (though the queen lasts longer). They collect pollen as protein for their young, and themselves eat nectar. They are extremely hairy, with a covering of soft hairs called a pile. It is the female worker bee which one sees out collecting pollen. The pollen is packed into two "baskets" on its hind, very noticeable when full. The baskets are just hairs specially adapted for this function.

Most of them have the same social structure as honey bees do, there is a queen, and there are workers and drones. The usual size of a colony is under 50 members, though some tropical species live in larger colonies.

Bumblebees carry aposematic warning colours, usually some combination of black, red, yellow and white. This is the usual Müllerian mimicry found in bees and wasps.^[1] Bumblebees are extremely hairy, and that also is a defence against birds. Young birds, particularly, find them difficult to handle. Some birds are regular predators of bumblebees: the great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor) and the bee-eaters for example.^[2]

1. ↑ "Williams PH. 2007. The distribution of bumblebee colour patterns world-wide: possible significance for thermoregulation, crypsis, and warning mimicry. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 92: 97-118". Retrieved 2007-07-09.
2. ↑ Goulson, Dave 2003. Bumblebees: their behaviour and ecology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852607-5