Bugs in Your Garden
Golden Northern Bumblebee Bombus fervidus

Male drones grow to ½ inch, workers to 3/4 inch and the queen to nearly one inch.

All of these bees are thick and hairy. The face and head is mostly black and there is a black band between the wing. The abdomen is black and yellow. The wings are smokey.

Unlike the honeybee, bumblebees have one or two spurs on the hind tibia.

Bumble bees possess three attributes that will help you to distinguish them from other bees : they are big, they are more furry than most other bees, and females transport pollen as a wet mass held in a “pollen basket” on the hind leg. The pollen basket of the hind pair of legs is broadened and concave like a shallow, elongate spoon. If empty, its polished surface can be seen reflecting light. Only the honey bee in our fauna has a similar pollen basket; all other bees that collect pollen carry it in a dense brush of hairs either on the hind leg or under the abdomen. Bumble bees are much more furry than the honey bee, the only other local bee that has a pollen basket.

Colonies breakup in the fall and only the young queens, now mated, remain to hibernate; all others perish. In the spring, after emerging from hibernating quarters in the soil or litter, the queen looks for a place to nest, which may be on or below the ground surface, under rocks, in a clump of grass, the abandoned nest of a mouse or bird, and makes preparations for her first brood. Egg cells are constructed, usually of pollen in the case of the first brood, and one egg is laid in each. One or more cups are fashioned of pollen and wax and filled with honey before the young arrive. There are three distinct castes among social bees: The fertile female (queen), the infertile female (worker), and the drone (male).

After the first brood arrives, commonly all workers, the queen confines herself to egg laying while her daughters forage and enlarge the nest, constructing brood cells, building and storing honey and pollen pots, caring for the young. Brood cells are not used again, but cocoons are used for storage of honey and pollen after undergoing alterations. In some colonies the second brood is all male and the third brood is female. Workers of the later broods become progressively larger. The queens and males usually leave the nest and fly off to mate. Males are often seen flying about the entrance at this time, waiting for the young queens to come out.

Bumblebee colonies are never large; probably they average less than 200 individuals and seldom contain more than a few hundred.

Unlike honey bees they do not target specific plants but with the current decline in the honey bee population their presence has assumed greater importance. They are especially valuable locally as pollinators of the cranberry crop.

Light Brown Apple Moth — in June 2007 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency identified a new pest, the light brown apple moth, from Australia via California. The 250 host plants  identified include produce, cut flowers and greenhouse & nursery stock, with a potentially devastating impact on both importing and exporting business. Samples of host plants are cherries, apples, pears, many vegetables such as broccoli & cauliflower, forage plants, and ornamental & nursery plants. It is not harmful to humans or animals. For more information see the CFIA website.

Aphids — Looking ahead to warmer months... all you ever wanted to know about Aphids! 

European Chafer Beetle — what's that skunk doing to my grass? Where did those brown patches come from? Check out the City of Burnaby's website for information.

Invasive Alien Species— the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries is spearheading an initiative to increase public awareness of the threats posed by Invasive Alien Species. Check out the following information:

Non-native & invasive pests
Invasive pest alerts
No rest from new pests
Aliens on the web
Invasive Plant Council of BC