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tricolored bumble bee

(Bombus ternarius)

Information
Photos
Slideshows
Videos
Sightings

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

Photo by Mike Poeppe

IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

NatureServe

N5 - Secure

Minnesota

not listed


	Description
	Tricolored bumble bee is a common, small, colonial, ground-nesting bumble bee. The female (worker) bee is 5 ⁄16″ to ½″ long. The thorax and abdomen are densely covered with short hairs. The thorax is mostly yellow with a conspicuous black T-shaped mark. There are six abdominal segments. The first and fourth abdominal segments are yellow, the second and third are orange, and the fifth and sixth are black. The head is black with a few yellow hairs, especially around the base of the antennae. The tongue is short. The queen is similar but longer and plumper. The male (drone) is similar but has longer hairs, a yellow head with a few black hairs, and yellow on the sides of the fifth and sixth abdominal segments.

	Size
	Queen: ⅝″ to ¾″ Male: ⅜″ to ½″ Worker: 5 ⁄16″ to ½″

	Similar Species
	Red-belted bumble bee (Bombus rufocinctus) has a black dot, not a T-shaped mark, on the thorax.


	Habitat
	Various


	Biology
	Season
	May to October

	Behavior
	Bumble bees will sting to protect themselves or their nest. The stinger is not barbed and the bee can sting multiple times.

	Life Cycle
	In April the queen emerges from hibernation and searches for a new nesting site. A suitable site is typically a small rodent burrow or a natural crevice in the ground. After locating a site the queen will forage for pollen and nectar to feed her future offspring. She then lines the nest with a waxy substance that she secretes, lays eggs fertilized in the previous season, and incubates the eggs. After the eggs hatch the newly emerged larvae, all female workers, pass through three stages before pupating and finally emerging as adults. The workers assist in expanding the nest, foraging for food, and incubating the eggs. The queen continues laying fertilized eggs throughout the summer. In late summer she begins laying unfertilized eggs which will develop into drones. In early fall the queen lays the last of her fertilized eggs. These develop into queens. The new queens forage for food, build up body fat, and mate with drones. In mid-fall the old queen and the rest of the colony dies, leaving only the new queens. The queens overwinter individually under a few inches of loose soil or leaf litter.

	Larva Food
	Larvae are fed both nectar for carbohydrates and pollen for protein.

	Adult Food
	Adults feed mostly on nectar but also on some pollen, especially flowers of blackberries, raspberries, goldenrods, blueberries, bilberries, and milkweeds.


	Distribution
			Sources 7, 24, 29, 30.
	9/4/2020

	Occurrence
	Common in northern Minnesota


	Taxonomy
	Order	Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)
	Suborder	Apocrita (wasps, ants and bees)
	Infraorder	Aculeata (ants, bees and stinging wasps)
	Clade	Anthophila
	Superfamily	Apoidea (apoid wasps, bees, sphecoid wasps)
	Family	Apidae (bumble bees, honey bees, and stingless bees)
	Subfamily	Apinae (honey, bumble, long-horned, orchid, and digger bees)
	Tribe	Bombini (bumble bees)
	Genus	Bombus (bumble bees)
	Subgenus	Pyrobombus

	In the not-too-distant past, bumble bees were often placed in the in the subfamily Bombinae, and sometimes in the family Bombidae. Today, both of these terms are considered taxonomically invalid, though they can still be found in use on the Web.

	Synonyms


	Common Names
	orange-belted bumble bee tricolored bumble bee tricolored bumblebee

Bumble Bee or Bumblebee?

In common usage the word bumblebee is written at least as often as the as the term bumble bee. In scientific usage, however, there is a “correct” form. The rule is: if the second part of the term accurately reflects the organism’s identity then it should stand alone. If it does not, then it should be concatenated. In short, “If true, then two.”

The Entomological Society of America follows the convention suggested by R. E. Snodgrass, author of Anatomy of the Honey Bee, when assigning common names to insects. Snodgrass states, “If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddisfly and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an dandelion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; ‘honeybee’ is equivalent to ‘Johnsmith.’”

Bumble Bee Identification

Elaine Evans, a PhD candidate in the Department on Entomology at the University of Minnesota, the University of MN Bee Lab, and BefriendingBumblebees.com have published a handy identification chart of Minnesota bumble bees. Handy, that is, for entomologists. Indispensable for amateur naturalists in Minnesota or anyone wanting to identify the bumble bee in their photo. Click on the images below to download the PDFs.

Guide to MN Bumble Bees I
(Females)

Guide to MN Bumble Bees II
(Males)


	Visitor Photos

	Share your photo of this insect.
			This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.


	Mike Poeppe

	I found the bee tonight a mile west of Houston.


	I did get a few close pictures of this bee and I am unsure what it is? I do know that it does stand out!





	Bobbi Johnson




	Dan W. Andree

	a nice colored bumble bee



	Luciearl

	Tricolored bumblebee on sneezeweed


	They are loving the Creeping Charlie. One of the few flowers growing in abundance.


	I haven't seen one since 2018, but still have this large goldenrod patch.


	… bumbles are preferring Goldenrod over coneflowers. At the bee fest.



	Barney

	out walking looking for may flowers and heard this bumble and managed to get pic. Was on 5/5/2020 first bee here for the season.


	Bill Reynolds

	Was at the Old Treaty Crossing Festival Huot MN today. Came across a large patch of Cut-Leaf Coneflower which all abuzz with Honey Bees and Tricolored Bumble Bees.




	There is a pretty good sized Bull Thistle patch near where I live that the bees and butterflies are working pretty hard.

	There were quite a few Tri-colored Bumbles working the Tansy patch.



	Crystal Boyd

	Queen




	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

Camera


	Slideshows


	Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius) Andree Reno Sanborn

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

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	Other Videos


	Bombus ternarius - Tricolored Bumble Bee birdingnwisc

	About Published on May 15, 2012 No description available.



	Tricolored Bumble Bee (Apidae: Bombus ternarius) Queen Carl Barrentine

	About Uploaded on May 6, 2011 Hooray! Fertile Queen Bumble Bees finally emerged from their long, long, long winter's nap this week! Photographed at Grand Forks, North Dakota (06 May 2011).



	Tricolored Bumble Bee (Apidae: Bombus ternarius) Worker on Leaf Carl Barrentine

	About Uploaded on Aug 15, 2010 Photographed at Grand Forks, North Dakota (14 August 2010).



	Tricolored Bumble Bee (Apidae: Bombus ternarius) on Dandelion Carl Barrentine

	About Uploaded on May 12, 2010 Photographed at Grand Forks, North Dakota (12 May 2010).

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Visitor Sightings

Report a sighting of this insect.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location.



Mike Poeppe 7/31/2021	Location: Houston County, MN I did get a few close pictures of this bee and I am unsure what it is? I do know that it does stand out!



Mike Poeppe 7/30/2021	Location: Houston County, MN I found the bee tonight a mile west of Houston.



Bobbi Johnson 7/10/2021	Location: Silver Bay, MN



Dan W. Andree 7/6/2020	Location: Frenchman’s Bluff SNA a nice colored bumble bee



Luciearl 9/3/2020	Location: Cass County Tricolored bumblebee on sneezeweed



Luciearl 5/20/2020	Location: Cass County They are loving the Creeping Charlie. One of the few flowers growing in abundance.



Barney 5/5/2020	Location: north of Virginia, MN out walking looking for may flowers and heard this bumble and managed to get pic. Was on 5/5/2020 first bee here for the season.



Luciearl Summer 2018	Location: Cass County I haven't seen one since 2018, but still have this large goldenrod patch.



Luciearl 8/3/2018	Location: Lake Shore, MN … bumbles are preferring Goldenrod over coneflowers. At the bee fest.



Bill Reynolds 8/26/2017	Location: Red Lake Co MN Was at the Old Treaty Crossing Festival Huot MN today. Came across a large patch of Cut-Leaf Coneflower which all abuzz with Honey Bees and Tricolored Bumble Bees.



Suzy 7/17/2017	Location: Tabernash, CO Collecting pollen on grass weed seed.



Bill Reynolds 9/5/2015	Location: Pennington Co. There is a pretty good sized Bull Thistle patch near where I live that the bees and butterflies are working pretty hard.



Bill Reynolds 8/5/2003	Location: St Louis Co MN There were quite a few Tri-colored Bumbles working the Tansy patch.



Bill Reynolds 8/4/2003	Location: St Louis Co MN There were quite a few Tri-colored Bumbles working the Tansy patch.



Crystal Boyd 5/29/2013	Location: La Salle Lake SNA



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

Belgium Prairie Dry Sand WMA Glacial Lakes Itasca State Park La Salle Lake SNA Potato Lake SNA