With this "heatwave" (- yes and its APRIL) could those busy little creatures be overworked and dying from exhaustion?
It would most likely have been a queen bee collecting pollen to set up her colony.
The queen bumble bee survives winter by hibernating and some may emerge as early as February if the weather is warm.
More usually she emerges between April and June looking for suitable nesting sites, which are built from pollen and wax for her to lay her eggs.
The eggs hatch after 4-6 days and the larvae begin to feed and grow. After 10-20 days the larvae make their own silk cocoons and pupate.
After approximately 14 days they hatch into worker bees.
Worker bees, which are smaller than the queen bee, may be seen collecting pollen and nectar for the queen who stays in the nest and builds brood chambers.
So the bee you saw George had most likely been overloaded with pollen and was having a rest. Hopefully she would have recovered soon afterwards and continued onto her nest site.
Laurie.
