Queen buff-tailed and red-tailed bumblebees Bombus terrestris and B.lapidarius induced to form colonies by confinement with workers, near Ripple, Kent, England

Published source details

Sladen F.W.L. (1912) The humble bee: its life history and how to domesticate it. Macmillan and Co., London (added by: Dicks L. 2010) The humble bee: its life history and how to domesticate it,

Background

Bumblebees Bombus spp. are declining in Europe and America, and captive rearing followed by re-introduction is planned for one species in the UK. This study was the first published attempt to rear bumblebees in captivity, carried out in F.W.L. Sladen’s garden, in Ripple near Dover, Kent, England.

Action

In spring 1910 and 1911, seven pairs of nest-searching buff-tailed bumblebee queens Bombus terrestris were captured and confined together in seven wooden boxes for a week or more, supplied regularly with honey and pollen. When one had laid eggs, two buff-tailed or white-tailed (B. lucorum) bumblebee workers caught at flowers were introduced. These workers were generally also kept confined until a new brood of workers emerged.

Some other queens were confined with just one worker, then another one or two workers subsequently added.

One experimental colony was started by introducing three workers of the early bumblebee B. pratorum after confining two B. terrestris queens. Another colony was started in 1910 by confining a queen red-tailed bumblebee B. lapidarius with seven workers and two small clusters of cocoons from another B. lapidarius nest.

On 30 May 1911, three B. terrestris queens that had been confined for three or four days were placed in three underground nest boxes supplied with dried grass nesting material, at dusk, with a beeswax cell of diluted honey in each nest box.

Consequences

With two queens and two introduced workers of B. terrestris or lucorum, a colony was formed in every case. One queen was always killed by the other queen. Several (the book does not say have many) colonies were also formed by combining a single queen with one worker and then adding two more workers after egg-laying commenced.

B. pratorum workers did not tend the brood of B. terrestris, but laid male eggs themselves. A very small colony was formed in this case. The B. lapidarius colony initiated with cocoons from another nest and seven workers became the largest of all the artificially initiated colonies.

One of the three B. terrestris queens placed in underground nest boxes stayed and formed a thriving colony, but did not use the honey provided.

Note: If using or referring to this published study, please read and quote the original book.