Wi BBB: Bombus fervidus

photo of Male on rough blazing-star (<em>Liatris aspera</em>) — Male on rough blazing-star (*Liatris aspera*) — Jay Watson

The yellow bumble bee is found throughout the U.S. It is considered uncommon throughout its wide range and is in decline in parts of its range (Hatfield et al. 2015, Williams et al. 2014). Wisconsin has a dozen current observation records spread across the southern half of the state. Historic records are from across the state.

The indiscriminate cuckoo bumble bee (B. insularis) is a nest parasite of the yellow bumble bee (Williams et al. 2014). The indiscriminate cuckoo has very few Wisconsin records.

The yellow bumble bee, like other bumble bees, lives in colonies composed of a single queen and female workers. Colonies start to produce new queens and males in the mid- to late summer. Only new, mated queens overwinter, emerging from diapause (a form of hibernation) in the spring. New queens are responsible for finding a new nest site, laying eggs, and for all of the foraging and care of the colony until the first workers emerge (Hatfield et al. 2015). Once the first workers emerge, the queen remains in the colony laying eggs. Bumble bees need areas that provide nectar and pollen from flowers throughout the duration of the colony life cycle, and suitable sites for nesting and for overwintering queens.

Status-Global/State:

Global: G5 Wisconsin: S2

image showing reference locations of body parts

Identification:

Worker – Face and vertex black. Thorax with black band between the wingpads and yellow on sides past the wingpads. Abdominal segments T1-4 yellow and T5-T6 black.
Queen/gyne – Similar to workers, but are larger and appear earlier in the season.
Male – Similar to workers occasionally with lighter hairs intermixed on face. Abdominal segment T6-T7 can be all black, or with fringes of yellow.
Other distinguishing features – Hair pale yellow and medium and even in length with a long face/cheek and dark wings.

Similar Wisconsin Species:

Similar bumble bee species in Wisconsin are the northern amber bumble bee (B. borealis) and the American bumble bee (B. pensylvanicus) (Colla et al. 2011, Williams et al. 2014).

Description of Habitat/Range:

Known habitats include open fields, urban parks, gardens, and prairies (Williams et al. 2014). Nests have been found both underground and on the ground surface among long grass and deserted mouse nests (Colla et al. 2011, Williams et al. 2014).

Nectar Plants

The yellow bumble bee is a long-tongued species (Williams et al. 2014). Nectar plants include Astragalus (milk vetch), Cirsium (thistles), Helianthus (sunflowers), Lonicera (honeysuckles), Lythrum (loosestrifes), Monarda (bee balms), Pedicularis, Penstemon (beard-tongues), Trifolium (clovers), and Vicia (vetches) (Williams et al. 2014, Colla et al. 2011).

Click on the legend symbols for each type of bumble bee to add or remove them from the graph.
Data from verified B3 observations [updated 2/28/2024].

Flight Season:

In Wisconsin, observation records have mostly been made between May and October. Range-wide, queens start emerging in April and enter diapause in October (Colla et al. 2011).

Literature Cited:

Colla, S., Richardson, L. and Williams, P. (2011) Bumble Bees of the Eastern United States. A product of the USDA Forest Service and the Pollinator Partnership with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Hatfield, R., Jepsen, S., Thorp, R., Richardson, L., Colla, S. & Foltz Jordan, S. 2015. Bombus fervidus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T21215132A21215225.

Williams, P.H., Thorp, R.W., Richardson, L.L. and Colla, S.R. (2014) The Bumble bees of North America: An Identification guide. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Male on rough blazing-star (Liatris aspera) — Jay Watson