Knowledgebase

Giant Bumblebee #715812

Asked August 20, 2020, 7:44 PM EDT

I came across several extremely large bumblebees during a walk through a field in St Johns this morning. Neither I nor a friend with whom I was walking had ever seen bumblebees that large- at first I wondered whether they were those murder wasps we’ve recently heard about, but they were fuzzy. They were probably at least 1 1/2- 2” long.

Multnomah County Oregon

Expert Response

Very awesome! These are queen bumble bees, like one of our biggest species, Nevada's bumble bee. Queens are only produced at the end of colony lifecycle. These queens will mate, fatten up for the winter and hibernate. They will come out next spring to found a new nest. 
Andony Melathopoulos, Assistant Professor Pollinator Health Extension Department of Horticulture | Oregon State University 4017 Agricultural and Life Science Building | Corvallis, OR 97331-7304 cell: (541) 452-3038 Andony.Melathopoulos@oregonstate.edu oregon bee atlas | oregon bee project | twitter | facebook | instagram | podcast Replied August 25, 2020, 3:49 PM EDT

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