FIRST LET’S LOOK AT THE BUMBLEBEES’ LIFE CYCLE SUMMER: Mature colonies produce new queens and the rest die out. New queens mate and most start hibernating in individual holes they dig in the ground. AUTUMN: Some queens come out and start nests but most remain hibernating WINTER: Queens hibernating. Some come out in late winter. SPRING: Most queens come out of hibernation and start nests. HOW BUMBLEBEES START NESTS IN NATURE Queens search for sheltered places wit

🎥 New Videos from Board Member Nelson Pomeroy We’re excited to share two fascinating new videos created by our board member Nelson Pomeroy . 1. Tekapo School – To Catch a Queen Following the December visit to Lake Tekapo School as part of their “To Catch a Queen” project, Nelson took some of the queens back to Christchurch and reared colonies in his garage. This video shows how they were kept and details aspects of colony life. 1. Bumblebees from Lake Tekapo 2. Inside a Bumb

New Zealand is home to four species of bumblebees but identifying each one can be challenging. We have collaborated with the University of Otago to create a helpful guide. Download the file and see if you are able to identify the various species. We show where each species is likely to be found and some of their important characteristics.

Helpful tips for starting and maintaining a pollinator friendly garden Pollinators in New Zealand and across the world are in serious...

Did you know there are only 4 species of bumblebee in New Zealand?

Keep up with the life cycle of New Zealand bumblebees month by month

Moving a Bumblebee nest - generally we do not advise that people move nests unless it is absolutely necessary.

Generally we do not advise that people move nests unless it is absolutely necessary. Most bumblebee colonies do not survive being relocated

whether a flower will be visited by a particular species of bee depends on a number of factors.

Bumblebees are social insects and can live in nests of up to 400 bees. Each nest has a queen and will last for only one year.

Bumblebees are important because they pollinate our summer gardens, our wildflowers and our crops.