Bug FAQEarly Bumble Bee
Bombus pratorum · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae
Also called: Early Humble-Bee, Early-Nesting Humble-bee
The early bumblebee is a small bee that flies from early spring to midsummer. Queens are black with yellow collars and a red tail, while workers are similar but often lack the abdominal yellow band.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Queens are black with a yellow band around the front of the thorax and another on the first abdominal segment, plus a red tail. Males have a wider yellow collar, yellow on the first two abdominal segments, and a red tail. Workers look like queens but usually have less yellow, often missing the abdominal band.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Queens measure 15 to 17 mm, workers 10 to 14 mm, and males 11 to 13 mm in body length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They live in many open areas such as fields, parks, scrubland and light forest. Nests are built above ground, often in abandoned bird or rodent nests.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They pollinate many short-corolla flowers like white clover, thistles, sage, lavender, asters, cotoneaster and Allium. They are not picky about nectar sources.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species usually has one generation per year, but some queens may skip hibernation and produce a second cycle.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are active from March to July, and in milder areas they can appear as early as February.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is native to most of Europe and parts of Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Male genitalia structure distinguishes it from related species.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Illinois.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When can I expect to see early bumblebees?
They are usually seen from March through July, with the earliest sightings in February in warm regions.
Source: Wikipedia
What plants do early bumblebees visit?
They feed on short-corolla flowers such as clover, thistles, sage, lavender, asters, cotoneaster and Allium, and they are not very selective about nectar.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I tell a queen early bumblebee from a worker?
Queens have a black body with a yellow collar, a yellow band on the first abdominal segment and a red tail, while workers look similar but often lack the abdominal yellow band.
Source: Wikipedia
Where does this bumblebee build its nest?
It nests above ground, frequently using abandoned bird nests or rodent nests.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Apidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_bumblebee
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.