I wish you all the beest for Christmas, and may the New Year be full of joy and exciting wildlife observations!
Tag: winter
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Life after winter
An old recycled (and translated) cartoon from my Polish fanpage. Most bees which emerged from their nests this year, must die before winter, leaving their progeny which will leave their nests the next season. However, not all of them. Females of Ceratina, Xylocopa, Halictus or Lasioglossum (I’m not sure if all species in these genera but surely a number of them!), and of course bumblebee queens, go for the overwintering to their natal nests or some other hiding places, to emerge the next spring and start their nesting activities.
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One more year
Some bees don’t emerge from their natal nests the next season. Especially in case of desert species, they can skip a year… or several years. As Danforth et al. mention in “The Solitary Bees”, Rozen once kept prepupae of Pararhophites in his desk drawer for five years! And it was not even the record because Amegilla dawsoni can wait for ten years for emergence.
Non-honey bees 