Non-honey bees

I’m very fond of cuckoo bees. They don’t build their nests and have amazing adaptations to make other bee species raise their children. Many of them, “true” cuckoos, just lay their eggs in the nests of solitary bees, and their success depends on making it so that the nest owner doesn’t know of the parasite’s egg in her nest. Others, like the cuckoo bumblebee pictured on the cartoon you see, invade nests of social species and usurp the title of the queen. After succesfully establishing its position in the nest, the cuckoo bumblebee female begins laying her eggs and host workers care for them like for their own sisters. The cuckoo keeps discipline by biting and dominating the workers (and the old queen, if she survived) but usually doesn’t kill the workers, as they are precious workforce for her young.

On the cartoon you can see the Field cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus campestris) in the nest of the Common Carder bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum). The cuckoos are picky when it comes to host choice, and usually parasitize only one or a few host species.