Bumble Bee Lifecycle - Page 3
The males and females are the last brood reared. After they have gone, the colony begins to deteriorate. The foundress queen stops laying eggs and grows weak from old age. The remaining workers continue to forage for food but only for themselves, behaving more like males while visiting flowers (Prys-Jones and Corbet, 1991). Other organisms take advantage of the colony's weakened state.
Parasitic flies and wasps parasitize larvae and adults, speeding the death of the remaining colony members. The most destructive organism to infest
the bumble bee colony is the wax moth. Wax moth adults enter bumble bee nests and deposits several eggs. Once hatched, wax moth larvae feast on the wax in brood clumps and on pupal cells. In a short period of time the larvae devour the wax. The wax is the essential component holding the structure of the nest together. Once the wax is removed the nest begins to crumble, eventually falling to pieces. Wax moths not only infest weakened nests, but often infest nests throughout a colony's existence. Soon the queen will die and her remaining daughters will follow suit. The once powerful citadel is now a rotting shanty. Any hint of the former owners will soon be gone and new tenants will take up residence. Rodents will reclaim the bumble bee nest, constructing dens
to hide from the cold of winter. When Spring returns they will leave, providing a new homes for the next generation of bumble bees.
