Golden Northern Bumble Bee
Description
Male drone 3/8-5/8"; workers 1/2-3/4"; Spring queen 3/4-7/8". Robust, hairy. Face and head mostly blackish. Black band between wings. Female is yellow on most of thorax and abdominal segments 1-4, black on 5-6; male is yellow on segments 1-5, black on 6-7. Wings smoky. Pollen basket on hind tibia.
Habitat
Clearings in Forests, roadsides, and open areas.
Range
Range
Food
Adult drinks nectar and eats honey. Larva feeds on honey.
Life Cycle
Queen overwinters until early spring, enters opening in soil to build honeypots and brood cells. Small workers develop first. With warmer weather, new honeypots and brood cells are constructed, producing larger adults. Only young mated females (new queens) overwinter; the rest of the colony, including old queen, dies. Adults fly May-September.
Other
 The similar Golden-orange Bumble Bee, same size, is orangish-yellow and has more black near the legs. It occurs from Yukon to Nova Scotia, south to Georgia; also in Michigan, Kansas, Montana, and British Columbia. The larger American Bumble Bee is black behind the wings with yellow on abdominal segments 1-3. It is found in the United States and southern Canada. Bumble bees and bees in other families by wing venation and other details.
Picture
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