Vital pollinators of crops and wildflowers, bumblebees are particularly effective with tomatoes, as their buzz frequency releases large pollen loads. All bumblebees form small colonies, visiting flowers as far as 2km away to feed on the nectar and gather pollen. The pollen coats the bee's hairy body and is then combed into a pollen basket. Usually, only the queens survive the winter, so there's no need for bumblebees to store large quantities of honey in the hive. Of the 250 known species, 24 are found in the UK but only six of these are a familiar sight in our gardens.

Did you know?
The bumblebee's buzz is produced by vibrating muscles and not the beating of the wings.


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