Sleeping Queens...

You know what's amazing? Right now in Bozeman, there is at least 8 inches of snow on the ground and it's 15 degrees outside. I feel cold and sleep under several layers of blankets, even in my cozy little apartment. But outside,under all that snow, in little "hibernacula" in our gardens and compost piles or buried in the forest leaf litter layer, thousands of bumble bee queens are sleeping the winter away. 

Like other animals that hibernate or estivate (have a dormant stage when it's too hot), the metabolism of a sleeping queen slows way down and she survives on fat stores built up by feeding on a lot of pollen and nectar at the end of summer. Additionally, insects have some amazing adaptations that help them survive cold winters without literally freezing to death. Some produce a type of antifreeze in their cells. Others push cellular water out of their cells into the spaces between cells so that there is no possibility of jagged ice crystals forming inside and causing damage. 

In just a few days, we will hit the winter solstice and the days will begin to get longer as we head towards spring. In a few months, when spring arrives and the very first flowers of the season begin to bloom, keep an eye out. The sleepy queens will wake up, emerge from their little shelters and start the hard work of creating a brand new bumble bee colony!