### animal | arthropod | insect | bee:

Bumblebee
* All bumblebees have a sting , as hive bees do.
* Most bumblebees live in small groups , which generally last only for a year
  - groups, which generally last only for a year. * groups, which generally last only for a year. They collect pollen as protein for their young, and themselves eat nectar. They are extremely hairy, with a covering of soft hairs called a 'pile'
* also seem less prone to the diseases currently plaguing the honeybees
  - work at low temperatures and under cloudy skies
* appear as characters, often eponymously, in children's books.
* are Northern Hemisphere animals
  - almost as hard to find today as honeybees
  - better pollinators for blueber-ries but are more expensive to get
  - common, large, slow moving bees
  - effective because they are so big, and they carry more pollen
  - especially effective in pollinating red clover
  - important pollinators of both crops and wildflowers
  - larger and stronger than honeybees
  - less dependant on the weather during inflorescence
  - often larger and certainly hairier
  - plump and covered with black and yellow hairs
  - poor for fruit, because their populations are very small early in the season
  - shown gathering pollen and making their nests and viewed in contrast with honeybees
* are social insects living in groups
  - that form colonies with a single queen
  - insects, but produce an annual colony
  - the only native bees that are highly social, like honeybees
  - useful pollinators inside greenhouses
  - valuable in Massachusetts for pollinating cranberries
  - varied in appearance, but are generally plump and densely furry
  - very tolerant and co-operative animals to work with
* bring tomato pollen to their larvae in the hive.
* enjoy the nectar from the cream false indigo in spring.
* gather nectar to add to the stores in the nest, and pollen to feed their young.
* get their food almost exclusively from flowers, and are active pollinators.
* go into a kind of frenzy when feeding on the nectar of the prickly pear.
* grasp the tomato flower and vibrate their thorax to shake the pollen loose.
* have a salivary gland that mixes pollen and nectar it collects with saliva it secretes
  - small wings in comparison to their body
  - some yellow hair on the top of the abdomen
  - two antennae in the middle of the head between their eyes
  - yellow and black body hair on all body parts
* help flowers to reproduce.
* live in colonies in the summer and assist in pollination of clovers for seed production.
* nest in soil or piles of dead leaves.
* often nest in the ground, but can be found above ground around patio areas or decks.
* only make small amounts of a honey-like substance to eat themselves.
* pollinate the flowers by forcing their way into the tightly closed petals.
* prefer partial shade for nesting.
* queens appear to maintain dominance purely by aggressive behaviour
  - produce wax to build cells in their burrows
* see a different wavelength of light to humans, known as UV light.
* seem reluctant to sting, and appear to do so only if they feel really threatened.
* shiver their flight muscles to generate heat and trap the warmth in their velvety fur.
* stand for mathematical order, unpredictability, anger, fear, and creative abundance.
+ Bumblebee, Sting: Hymenoptera
  * All bumblebees have a sting, as hive bees do. However, the bumblebee sting does not damage it when used, and they can sting several times. However, they rarely do sting, unless really threatened.