Bumblebee

[Scott J.]

Does anyone know how long after the queen lays an egg till emergence takes?

[BeeAware]

Eggs hatch in 3 to 4 days. About 7 days after hatching, the larvae spin a cocoon and remain in it for about 11 or 12 days, depending upon the ambient temperature. All in all it takes about 22 days from egg to adult bumble bee. All early brood is female workers, males not being reared until late in the season when they will be needed for mating with new queens which will hibernate thru winter and emerge and start a new nest in spring.

[Logan]

Is it possible to keep Bumble Bees like you do Honey Bees?

[BeeAware]

Not exactly. Bumble bee colonies do not persist from one year to the next. Only the queen survives the winter in a state of diapause. She emerges in spring and founds a new nest and this is not the same queen from the previous spring. New queens are reared and mated at the end of summer and the original queen dies. It is possible to rear a colony of bumbles just by capturing a foundress queen in spring and providing her with a suitable habitat for nesting and rearing brood. Bumble bee colonies are much smaller in number than honeybee colonies.