​Searching for Bumblebees

April 12, 2026

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The elusive bumblebee. We see them buzzing through the garden, often heard before catching sight. Though once seen, it's hard to resist, so we follow along by eye; watching them travel from flower-to-flower, tracking them as they go. Feeding on nectar and gathering pollen and before you know it, in a dash and a buzz, just as easy as they arrived, they are gone. 

We rarely see where they live. They are elusive, but also, we don't know where to look. Unlike the more familiar and easily recognized structures of honey bees and hornets, the home of the bumblebee is hidden. Though sometimes they are so close, we may not even realize, they are right under foot. 

The Bumblebee (Bombus) is native to Ontario along with over 400 other species of native bees, and like most of them, the bumblebee is a ground dweller. Most species of native bees are excellent diggers and excavators, though the bumblebee is unique in that it does not dig or excavate its own tunnel. It is different than other bees - it is a social bee, led by a queen, similar to honey bees - and this means that it lives in a colony, sometimes in homes with hundreds of others. For this primary reason, it needs a nesting site that is much more spacious than the narrow tunnel it would likely have been able to dig. 

The intelligent and resourceful bumblebee has found the perfect solution to this problem - it chooses to nest in the abandoned tunnels of ground burrowing animals with the added benefit of the tunnels being lined with dry grasses and remnants of animal fur. And just so they can maintain their elusive nature, they never nest in the same place twice. Each year, even if their home was the finest, with all their needs being met; they still abandon the tunnel in search of a new home.

So when does all of this take place and when does the queen search for a new home?

Well, in spring of course, the most delightful time of all. Well, actually it first began in late fall when a new queen abandoned her natal home, and set out, all on her own, timed with the coolness of autumn. At this time, the queen would have found a place to settle down for the duration of winter. She doesn't go far, nor need to go deep - sometimes she just nestles down under the protective cover of fallen leaves or burrows beneath the surface of loose soil - and this is where she will spend the long, cold, snow-covered months ahead. During this time she will enter a dormant stage called diapause which allows for the survival of freezing temperatures. Then each year, in early spring, the queen emerges from hibernation and along with gathering energy from feeding on spring blossoms, she will spend her days zig-zagging, low to the ground, in search of a new dwelling place. She may settle within a beautiful strawberry patch and sometimes if all the conditions are just right that place may be in your own backyard. 

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To read more about the wild strawberry plant (native to most of Ontario) and to understand how connected it is to land, animals and pollinators, click here.