Miscellaneous
The few beautiful wildflowers that survive into fall attract a huge number of bumble bees who are completing their annual cycle. New queen bumble bees and drone bees begin to emerge mate with bees from other colonies, and prepare for the winter. For drones and workers, this means death at the first frost. For new queens, this means gorging on nectar and pollen to put on fat layers just like a bear preparing for hibernation. Learn about Naturalist Emily Stone’s observations of these fuzzy fall bees in this episode.