Bumble bees & bugs

Bumble bees are insects so have six legs. They have furry bodies to keen them warm.

There are over 250 species of types of bumble bees in the world. They mainly live in the northern hemisphere in temperate climates where it is not too hot.

Bumble bees live in nests in colonies of around 400 bees. The nests are often in the ground or in piles of old leaves.

Grasshoppers are very good jumpers thanks to their big strong back legs. If humans could jump as far as grasshoppers relative to body size, we would be able to jump the length of a football pitch!

Fruit flies like to feed off ripe and decaying fruit – they are also attracted to beer and wine as they like fermented food.

There are over 40,000 different types of species of spiders. Most spider species do not hurt you.

Bumble bees feed off the nectar and pollen in flowers.

The name bumble comes from the ancient Greek work βόμβος (bómbos) which means buzzing or humming.

The queen bee lays eggs and is the only bee that survives through the winter months, all others in the colony die off when it gets too cold. With the arrival of spring the Queen wakes up and lays eggs to start a new colony.

As modern farming methods have changed there are fewer flowers in the countryside, this is making it difficult for so many bumble bees to survive. We can help bumble bees by planting as many flowers as possible.

Grasshoppers rub their wings together with the legs to a sound or song, which they use to communicate with other grasshoppers.

Many spiders make silk which they use to make their webs. They catch insects for the dinner in their webs.

Some spiders, when they make a new web will eat their old web so not to waste all that silk.

Bumble bees normally have black and white stripes which are used as a warning that they can sting. Only the females can sting, but they only do so rarely, normally only if threatened.

Bumble bees have long hairy tongues, called a proboscis, which they use to collect nectar. Different types of bumble bees have different shaped tongues.

Female worker bees collect nectar and pollen for the young bees and themselves. The male drone bees don’t contribute much to colony life, they live themselves and overnight in flowers.

Grasshoppers are full or protein, so in several places across the world people enjoy them as a healthy snack.

Ants are very strong – they can carry up to 50 times their own body weight, and they work together to carry larger objects – often other bugs that they want to eat.

Ants live in large colonies made up of the queen ant, female worker ants and the male ants.

You can find out lots more about bumble bees and bugs from our friends at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Buglife.