Bumblebees rely on pollen and nectar as sources of nutrition, needing safe nesting spaces with access to bee-friendly flowers nearby for nesting and resting purposes.
If you encounter a stranded bumblebee, never feed it honey as this could contain pathogens that may harm its health. Instead, offer 50/50 white sugar and water as food source.
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1. Wildflowers
Bumblebees feed on wild flowers and herbaceous plants to get their pollen and nectar needs met, making the garden an excellent place for them to gather pollen and nectar sources. Planting early, mid, and late flowering plants such as lavender cornflowers daisies knapweed cat mint fennel chives sedum as favourites will draw them in! We also recommend our “Bumblebee Buffet” seed mix which contains early, mid, late blooming native wildflowers to encourage their visits throughout the season!
If you find a bumblebee that appears to be stranded, examine its wings for signs of wear. Ripped edges indicate an old queen or worker bee that has run out of energy and stopped flying; cold and wet conditions might warrant giving an energy boost via some sugar water (50/50 water to white sugar mix) on an upturned teaspoon or drinks cap in a safe location.
2. Fruits
Nectar is a sweet liquid produced by plants and is the main food source for bees. Additionally, they collect pollen that contains high concentrations of protein for egg production purposes.
Grounded bees are typically queen bumblebees just beginning their emerge, or queens that have lost resources due to extreme cold or snow, which have destroyed flowers they need for foraging. Without nectar-generating sources like your help they cannot survive long term.
Safely feed queen bumblebees sugar water by mixing equal parts white sugar and water and placing the solution on a teaspoon or upturned drinks lid in an undisturbed location. Make sure she can see you and her stinger is protected as they don’t shed them like honey bees do, giving her energy boost before finding flowers again to forage on. This will give them energy boost before setting out searching again.
3. Nuts
Like honey bees, bumblebees are social insects that live in colonies led by a queen. Like their honey-bee counterparts, bumblebees serve as effective pollinators and aid flowering plants in reproduction; nectar and pollen consumption must therefore occur to ensure survival for this group of social insects.
Nectar is the sweet liquid collected from flowers by bumblebees using their long proboscis (tubular mouthparts). This provides adult bees with energy; in addition, pollen – produced by flowering plants that contains proteins – is consumed. Bees store this pollen in special pockets on their hind legs called scopae and corbiculae for later consumption.
If you see an exhausted or struggling bumblebee, try mixing equal parts granulated white sugar and water into a treat for it to give an energy boost. Remember not to feed honey to them though; their metabolism needs something else!
4. Seeds
Bumblebees are essential pollinators of wild native plants and agricultural crops, pollinating both during periods of cooler weather or darker hours of the day due to their ability to generate body heat and fly with ease.
Bumble bee queens feed mostly on pollen, though they also eat honey made at home and other sweeteners. To store provisions and lay their eggs safely they construct small wax pots called nests from which they feed from.
Workers eat differently, focusing on energy-rich nectar to fuel their foraging expeditions and pollen as a source of protein for egg production.
If you encounter a tired bumblebee on the ground, she has likely spent all day searching for food and is in need of your assistance in returning back on its path by offering her sugar solution. You can help restore its energy by offering gentle assistance through offering sugar solutions as a possible aid solution.
5. Vegetables
Bumblebees feed off of two main food sources: nectar (which they turn into honey for carbohydrates) and pollen, an abundant source of proteins.
Vegetable plants such as tomatoes and cucumbers rely on bees for pollination to produce fruit, so gardeners must plant flowers and veggies free from neonicotinoids to attract these bees and keep their garden beautiful.
If you see a bumblebee walking aimlessly about, looking tired and depleted, offering it some sugar water may provide it with an energy boost. Just mix equal parts of sugar and water on a spoon or bottle top and leave near it; but be aware that feeding sugar water should never become its regular diet!
