Bumblebees are one of the most familiar insects visiting our gardens and parks. Just about anywhere you find flowers growing in temperate regions of the world, you will find bumblebees. These big, fuzzy, black-and-yellow bees buzz from flower to flower, lapping up nectar with their tongues and collecting the pollen that adheres to the dense layer of hairs covering most parts of their bodies. Almost all of us can recognize a bumblebee on sight.
Bumblebees are pollinators, a critical link in the reproduction of huge numbers of flowering plants, including many of those that supply the fruits and vegetables in the human diet. So bumblebees are part of the web of natural organisms that sustain all life on earth.
But bumblebees are in trouble. Their numbers are changing rapidly and they need our help.
In this blog we will be exploring the world of bumblebees and trying to discover what we have to do to ensure that these native pollinators will continue to fulfill their critical role in the ecosystem we all share.
[Image copyright (c) Dave Barr 2010]
[Image copyright (c) Dave Barr 2010]
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