Insect Study 



443 



/I bumblebee's nest after a frost. Note the mummy of the first owner of the nest. 



Photo by Slingerland. 



All of the eggs in the bumblebee nest in the spring and early summer 

 develop into workers which do incidentally the vast labor of carrying 

 pollen for thousands of flowers; to these only is granted the privilege of 

 carrying the pollen for the red clover, since the tongues of the other bees 

 are not sufficiently long to reach the nectar. The red clover does not 

 produce seed in sufficient quantity to be a profitable crop, unless there are 

 bumblebees to pollinate its blossoms. Late in the summer, queens and 

 drones are developed in the bumblebee nest, the drones, as with the 

 honey-bees, being mates for the queens. But of all the numerous popula- 

 tion of the bumblebee nest, only the queens survive the rigors of winter, 

 and on them and their success depends the future of the bumblebee 

 species. 



There are many species of bumblebees, some much smaller than others, 

 but they all have the thorax covered with plush above and the abdomen 

 hairy, and their fur is usually marked in various patterns of pale yellow 

 and black. The bumblebee of whatever species, has short but very active 

 antennas and a mouth fitted for biting as well as for sucking. Between 

 the large compound eyes are three simple eyes. The wings are four in 

 number and strong; the front legs are very short; all the legs have hairs 

 over them and end in a three-jointed foot, tipped by a claw. On the hind 

 leg, the tibia and the first tarsal joint are enlarged, making the pollen 

 baskets on which the pollen is heaped in golden masses. One of the most 

 interesting observations possible to make, is to note how the bumblebee 

 brushes the pollen from her fur and packs it into her pollen baskets. 



