Everybody loves a bumble bee.
Especially the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii.
And especially a queen.
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, and first-year entomology graduate student Emily Bzydk collected a few native bees to show visitors at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during UC Davis Picnic Day last Saturday.
One of the bumble bees: a regal queen.
When Picnic Day ended, they kindly let me take her home to our tower of jewels (Echium wildprettii), a biennial plant that looks somewhat like a red-jeweled Christmas tree. "Tower of jewels" is indeed a fitting name. It towers (nine-feet high) and it sparkles like rubies.
We placed the lethargic queen on a blossom and fed her honey for quick energy. She quickly sipped about an eighth of a teaspoon, buzzed me twice (Hey, I'm your friend!), returned for more honey, and then took flight.
The queen circled the plant twice and was gone.
From the Bohart Museum display to a showy tower of jewels--all in one day.
Picnic Day.
Attached Images:
![QUEEN BUMBLE BEE, a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) heads down the tower of jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) QUEEN BUMBLE BEE, a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) heads down the tower of jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/3592.jpg)
Queen Bumble Bee
![A TASTE OF HONEY--The queen bumble bee sips a gift of honey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A TASTE OF HONEY--The queen bumble bee sips a gift of honey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/3593.jpg)
Hungry
![THE QUEEN, after consuming honey, takes flight around the tower of jewels, a nine-foot high plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) THE QUEEN, after consuming honey, takes flight around the tower of jewels, a nine-foot high plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/3594.jpg)
Flight of the Bumble Bee