Large bee, with a shiny black head and abdomen, and a fuzzy yellow and black coat on its thorax and upper abdominal segments. Gathers pollen in baskets formed of hairs on her legs, and slurps up nectar with her long, thick tongue, which she keeps folded under her body when not in use(see below). Wings are seemingly small for the body, transparent, shiny. (A popular, but fanciful story holds that physicists have proven that bumblebess cannot fly.) Generally peaceful towards humans, but can sting if provoked (I fell on one, once, so I know this for a fact).

Bumblebees live in small colonies, usually underground, where the workers raise the queen's young. New queens and drones fly off in autumn and mate. The mated queens spend the winter dormant and hiding, and build new nests in the spring. The old nest perishes in the winter.

Bumblebee species are native throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They are very common in Wildwood.

Many different species of bumblebee look pretty much alike, with black and yellow fur. They can be distinguished only by careful examination of the details of their bodies.