Hunt’s Bumble Bee Images

Hunt’s Bumble Bee Images, Facts and Information:

Bombus huntii

• Hunt’s Bumble Bees are medium-sized, fuzzy bees with black and yellow banded bodies, long faces, and short, even hair on the thorax and abdomen. Females have pollen baskets on their hind legs, while males lack them and have longer antennae.
• Hunt’s Bumble Bees are found throughout much of western and central North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and east to the Great Plains. They inhabit grasslands, meadows, open woodlands, and gardens, often at mid-to-high elevations. Hunt’s Bumble Bees are frequent visitors of wildflowers, especially those in the sunflower, pea, and mint families.
• Hunt’s Bumble Bees feed on nectar and collect pollen, serving as important pollinators for both native plants and crops.
• Females establish small annual colonies in abandoned rodent burrows or grassy tussocks. Queens overwinter alone and emerge in spring to start new nests. Males and new queens appear late in the season for mating before the colony dies off.
• A group of bumble bees can be called a “colony” or a “swarm.”

I hope you enjoy viewing my Hunt’s Bumble Bee photos.