Bumblebee queens go to ground

October is all about getting ready for winter, for honeybees and bumblebees alike. Over the next four weeks we'll look at how each of them prepares, and meet one bee that is just getting started.

First, the bumblebees. A queen bumblebee can live for up to 12 months, but she spends as much as half of that time dormant, hibernating through the winter. She chooses her spot carefully: well-drained, soft soil, leaf litter, hollow trees, or tucked inside tree bark.

Using her legs, she digs a bumblebee-sized hole into the soil or other material, and can excavate to a depth of more than 10cm. There she waits for spring, ready to found a brand new colony.

Next week: why honeybees don't hibernate at all.

Kenneth and Barbara Robson, on behalf of the CB400 Foundation