The bumblebees of any section present a very interesting study as one watches the workers going from flower to flower in their efforts to provide the necessary nectar and pollen for the colony needs at home in some deserted mouse nest.

If the individual bumblebees are watched more closely, it will be observed that there are apparently several different kinds, as in fact, there are. Some have conspicuous bands of red or brown on the abdomen, some are black and yellow, while others are marked with a white tip on the end of the abdomen.

There are in fact no less than five or six species of bumblebees found frequenting our alpine and subalpine flora. The two most common forms seen are the Occidental (Bremus occidentalis) and the near-artic bumblebees (Bremus biforius nearticus). The former is more often seen on the Lewis Mimulus, while the latter has been more often taken on rabbit brush in the Canadian Zone.

It may be recalled here that the bumblebee colony maintains itself only through the short summer months. In later summer all of the individuals of the colony die except the young queens, which retire to some protected spot, and hibernate during the winter months. When the snow melts and spring flowers appear, the young queens come out, and start feeding on such early plants as the willow and maple. After a brief period of aimless wondering, they start to look for a suitable nesting place. In the early stages of brooding, the young queen does all the work of wax secreting, food gathering, brooding, and so on, until the first batch of young workers appears. These are also females, but of small size. The queen from then on remains in the nest. Additional small female workers are produced, and these assume the field duties of the queen, and assist in caring for the brood. By late July as a rule, males or "drones" appear. Soon young queens are produced which resemble the workers in all respect except size, they being much larger. After mating, the young queens retire for the winter, and the yearly cycle is complete.

It might be of interest to know that a colony of yellow jackets passes through the same yearly cycle. The outstanding difference being that yellow-jackets feed their young on animal matter while they young bumblebees are fed on nectar and pollen from flowers.