Family: Apidae, Apid Bees view all from this family

Description 1/2-3/4" (1-2 cm), queens larger than workers. A robust and hairy bumblebee with a yellow face; thorax and abdomen mostly black; yellow band near tip of abdomen. Wings blackish

. Warning This bee stings but is not aggressive

. Life Cycle Hibernating queens appear in spring and establish underground colonies; workers -- all sterile females -- forage and tend larvae and pupae. Late in season, males and young queens, emerge, leave nest, and mate. Males, old queens, and workers die; new queens overwinter and repeat cycle.

Flight Early spring to frost.

Habitat Fields, garden, open areas

. Range Western North America.

Discussion The Yellow-faced Bumblebee is a member of the superfamily Apoidea. Bees form a large group of insects that are specialized for feeding at flowers and gathering honey and pollen. More than 3,500 species occur in North America. All bees are covered with branched or feathery hair, but some have more hair than others. When a bee visits a flower, pollen sticks to the hair. Most female bees have a pollen-collecting apparatus; males do not collect pollen and lack this structure. In most species the pollen is combed into a special pollen basket or brush, which is usually located on the hind leg.