1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Bumblebees Amongst bees, bumblebees are best adapted to the cold climate, which is the reason why they also live high in the mountains. In spring, queens look for a suitable place for nesting and eventually rear the first brood of workers. These assume all the jobs in the nest, while the queen again lays new eggs. The large bumblebee family maintains a constant temperature in the nest, raising it by shuddering their muscles and lowering it by fluttering their wings. With their body temperature, the bumblebees also warm up the developing brood. The winter, however, is survived only by young queens, which hatch towards the end of the summer. At that time they are fertilised by the males.
	Bumblebee Bombus pratorum worker in the flower of a dead nettle.	Bumblebee Bombus pascuorum worker presses against the cell containing larvae to warm them up with its body temperature.
	Bombus argillaceus queen has an utterly black abdomen and two yellow bands on the thorax.	Bombus argillaceus male has the tip of its abdomen tinged white, while its first segment is yellow. The workers are coloured the same.
	Slovenian Museum of Natural History Checklist Text and photographs by Andrej Gogala Photo gallery