[NatureNS] Bumble Bees in NS

Date: Mon, 30 May 2011 20:19:33 -0300
Thread-Topic: [NatureNS] Bumble Bees in NS
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From: "David McCorquodale" <David_McCorquodale@cbu.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
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Bev's photo is a queen _Bombus ternarius_.  Once you see the red on the =
abdomen the next feature to look for is the backward pointing arrow of =
black on the thorax.  This photo shows it clearly.

The other species in Nova Scotia with red on the abdomen is _B. =
rufocinctus_.  In this species the dark mark on the thorax is rounded, =
not with a pointed back end.

A bee with limited yellow on the abdomen could be _Bombus impatiens_.  =
This species is pale yellow and only the first segment of the abdomen is =
yellow.  On fresh specimens the black appears velvety because the hairs =
are dens and short.

There nine species of bumble bees that are regularly seen in Nova =
Scotia.  In addition there are 4 species of nest parasite bumble bees, =
so about 13 species in total.  I have a simple key that includes some =
photos to assist in identification of NS bumble bees that is available =
to anyone who would like it.  There are some tricky identifications =
(among B. sandersoni, perplexus and vagans for example), but most can be =
done easily.

It is not easy to ascertain populations of bumble bees at this time of =
year.  There are only queens now.  Each queen attempts to start a nest. =
Queens are large compared to the workers that will be around later in =
the summer.  The first workers are less than a third the size of the =
queens.  By mid-August the workers that emerge are much large, almost as =
large as the queens.  A successful nest will have  a few hundred workers =
in mid-August.  Therefore seeing one bee now will translate into a few =
hundred in late July, or not if the nest is not successful.

_Bombus ternarius_ and _B. impatiens_ are two common species in Nova =
Scotia now.  When I moved to Nova Scotia in 1990 there were no records =
of _B. impatiens_.  This is a species that is and was common in southern =
Ontario and southern Quebec.  It is also used in greenhouses for =
pollination.  In the early 1990s _Bombus terricola_ was common, more =
than 20% of all the bumble bees I saw in Cape Breton.  In the past five =
years I have seen fewer than 10 specimens, out of many hundreds of =
bumble bees identified.  The message here is that some bumble bees are =
more common now and others are very rare compared to what they were less =
than 20 years ago.

Cory Sheffield has produced a very good checklist of the  bees of Nova =
Scotia and would be interested in hearing about which species of bees =
are in various places in Nova Scotia. =20

If you are interested in a copy of the simple key for bumblebees, please =
send me an email privately, I will send it to you.

David McCorquodale
Biology, Cape Breton University
david_mccorquodale@cbu.ca


-----Original Message-----
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca on behalf of bev@magickcanoe.com
Sent: Mon 5/30/2011 11:19 AM
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Bees
=20
> Whereas my observations are strickly non scientific - has
> anyone noticed a similar trend? =20
> Paul

*  I just have this year and last for comparison, but it does seem that  =
Bumblebees are plentiful this year.  In particular, I've been seeing a =
good number of what I believe to be Bombus ternarius (Tricolored =
Bumblebees)on the dandelion around here.  This is a photo of one taken =
May 20, 2011.
http://magickcanoe.com/bees/RH-bombus-ternarius.jpg
There's another larger bee with an almost all black abdomen, which I'm =
seeing a lot of as well.  Not sure of the ID, but maybe B. impatiens.

Bev Wigney
Round Hill, NS




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