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Sticker of Early bumblebee
Bug card No. 0428 of 1,500

Early bumblebee

Bombus pratorum

The early bumblebee is a small, fluffy bumblebee with yellow bands and a red tail. It wakes up very early in spring, sometimes already in February. That is how it got its name.

Lives in
Most of Europe and parts of Asia, in fields, parks, gardens and open woods
Length
1 to 1.4 cm (0.39 to 0.55 in)
Top speed
about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Can bite or sting
What does it eat?
It drinks nectar and collects pollen from flowers.
For real!Photo of Early bumblebee
Picture by Ivar Leidus. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Early bumblebee about 1.4 cm long (0.55 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
as long as 2.5 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 27 secondsmoves 280 times its own body length every second

How big is Early bumblebee compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The queen is the biggest, 15 to 17 millimetres long.

2

It sometimes makes its nest in an old bird nest or an empty mouse nest.

3

In some years it can raise two families instead of one.

4

The queen keeps her workers in line by being bossy, not by using smells.

5

Brand new workers are silvery for a short time before they get their normal colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Early bumblebee

?Why is it called the early bumblebee?

Because it comes out in early spring, as soon as February in mild places.

?What does the early bumblebee eat?

Nectar and pollen from flowers.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Bombus pratorum
Group
Bees and bumblebees
Family
Apidae
Classification
Insecta > Hymenoptera > Apidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia
Also known as
Early-nesting bumblebee

Where the facts come from

  1. Early bumblebee (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Ivar Leidus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Bees and bumblebees

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows