Experience in Rearing Common Carder Bees (Bombus pascuorum Scop.), with Some Notes on Three Similar Species: Shrill Carder Bee (B. sylvarum L.), Red-shanked Carder Bee (B. ruderarius Müll.), and Brown-banded Carder Bee (B. humilis Ill.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

The rearing method under controlled conditions known for Bombus terrestris was successful in initiating egg-laying for 83% of B. pascuorum queens. After larvae had hatched, fresh pollen pellets needed to be inserted into brood pockets daily. After the first workers had emerged, colony development was advanced by placing them outdoors and supplying them with a sugar solution and pollen. The bees were able to use tightly pressed pollen from small plastic pots inserted near the brood. This feeding resulted in large colonies that produced dozens of young queens. In contrast, colonies managed in the laboratory were unable to utilize pollen in a similar manner. They raised only a few workers and several queens. Mating young queens was easy. It was stimulated by daylight, but in the case of B. humilis by direct sunshine. Several B. pascuorum and B. sylvarum queens were overwintered and began the new generation under artificial conditions. However, a lack of fresh pollen limited the development of colonies outside of the vegetation period.