Two-spotted Bumblebee: A Survivor!
By Sara Wright
In late April one calm morning, just as the first purple crocus opened her striped silken wings to the sun, my favorite little bumblebee dove into a golden center. Little did I know that Bombus bimaculatus would then disappear with the rest of the early pollinators. Persistent low temperatures and howling winds made it almost impossible for these insects to pollinate bloodroot, anemones, marsh marigolds, lady slippers, trillium, and Solomon’s seal for most of “the spring that wasn’t.”
After honeybees began vanishing many years ago, I started to pay close attention to the rest of the bees that live around here. The American Bumblebee along with other wild bees seemed to be compensating for honeybee loss by pollinating the ephemerals and, later, the rest of my summer wildflowers and cultivars too. When the American Bumblebee began disappearing, alarm bells sounded. This bee was also a primary woodland pollinator.
This year I was profoundly relieved when “two-spot” finally showed up in late May on a regular basis, too late to pollinate bloodroot and most anemones, but at least the bees were here. In previous years, the two-spotted bumblebee swarmed around trillium, trailing arbutus, and dove into Solomon’s seal bells. Later they gravitated to wild viburnums, oleander, and honeysuckle bushes, to mention a few favorites. Now that we are well past mid-summer, two-spots feast upon milkweed and all the wild bee balm around my house. The last two are favorites. I am so pleased to write that I find these little bees on wildflowers, no matter where I go.
Because two-spots were so late arriving this year, I started documenting what flowers they liked best, first around the house and then elsewhere. They are true generalists, taking advantage of whatever is in bloom. The Buck’s Ledge Community Forest is one preferred feeding area because new wildflowers are appearing each year. On my weekly shopping day, I stop at the Mahoosuc Land Trust’s Habitat Garden. Even though I don’t find as many two-spots there, it seemed obvious that Nature was adapting to the loss of other bumblebees in this area with Bombus bimaculatus.
According to sources I consulted, unlike other bumblebee species that are facing declines, the two-spot is flourishing. Bumble Bee Watch clearly indicates two-spot habitat is expanding into Quebec, all three Canadian Maritime Provinces, and is moving as far west as Montana. This information supports my belief that Nature adapts. Good news for all.
These bees rely heavily on ephemerals in the spring, moving to bushes and flowering shrubs, summer wildflowers, cultivars and fall hydrangeas when the seasons shift. Like other bumblebees, two-spots can vibrate their flight muscles at frequencies that shake pollen loose (buzz pollination). Most fascinating to me is that, like other bumblebees, Bombus bimaculatus possesses remarkable learning and memory capabilities. They navigate using scent and flower patterns but are also capable of remembering individual human faces.
I love these bees, so I guess it’s not surprising that one lands on my arm or hovers in front of me when I am staring at a different one working a wild bee balm blossom as I did this morning. Oh, how I love to engage with Nature’s friendly survivors!
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