Habitat
The tricolored bumblebee (B. ternarius) has a wide range of
places that it lives.
This bee can be throughout the
northern half of the United States and into parts of Canada
(Johnson 2011). It has been sighted all across the
country from Yukon Territory to Nova Scotia, and while the
climate is still livable for these insects farther south, they
are rare to see south of Pennsylvania. Bombusternariusis a
seasonal insect making small nests of under 200 individuals each
spring and all but the queens dying off at the end of the season
(O’Toole 2002). Their nests are seasonal as well, with
the queens choosing a new location each time a new colony is to
be formed. These nests are typically underground and built
in northern, temperate climates where the bees are most
successful (Johnson 2011). These nests, however, are sometimes
home to another type of bee. The cuckoo bee will invade
the nest and transplant its own eggs to be raised by the bees
that live there. The cuckoo bee is known as kleptoparasitic because it also steals food and lives off the
success of the other nest.