Thick, hairy bumblebee and thousand dandelions

Thick, hairy bumblebee buzzing around in a dandelion field. I assume it is the Queen! She is busy and has very important task to do: give birth to a new bumblebee society.

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Near our cottage is a country house with an apple tree garden. In spring thousands of dandelions are growing under the trees and usually also bumblebees are found there. I shot these photos this spring in a very warm and sunny day.

Bumlebee society

First bumblebees met in the spring are all queens and they must not be killed! Otherwise there is no new bumblebees born to pollinate plants. In May-June first generation of workers hatch, and the Queen can focus on growing her society.

When there are a lot of bumblebees, people have nothing to worry about

It is said that people run out of food if the natural pollinators disappear. That is one of the threats besides the weakening efficacy of antibiotics and cutting off the electricity by a heavy solar storm.

Insects react quickly to changes in the state of the environment but people are extremely poor at seeing, experiencing, noticing such slow changes. I hope that there are needed actions taken before it is too late.

A significant portion of our food rests on the natural pollination services. If the pollination does not work and it has to be organized other way, we are in a big trouble. The decline in the number of natural pollinators is also a monetary issue, at European level annual benefits are billions of euros.

When there are a lot of bumblebees, when there are a lot of butterflies, then people have nothing to worry about.

It is really sad that the amount of insects in general is decreasing all over our planet. I am avoiding herbicides in my garden and planting flowers that insects love. At the moment I am building an insect hotel to help insects.