Bumbles in a Bottle
A little shiver in the Autumn chill.
Summer is waning quickly, where did it go? We were still marveling at the spring rains and the plans of the season, then each one getting ticked off their calendar days and now, here we are in September, already. While the meadow and pond grasses are beginning to yellow, the showy Columbines have faded, and the Golden Banner yellow carpets of early summer are long gone to their pea-pod seed sacks and returned to the ground to wait for next year, but some wildflowers remain. September flowers, even at 8700’ elevation, have their own time to be in the spotlight. Among the Tansyasters, Fleabane, and Harebell, even some Paintbrush remain, but watch where you step and you may find little clusters of purple ‘bottles’.
The Bottle Gentian (Gentiana Andrewsii) is one of the 400 species of the family of Gentian flowers, most of which are very showy alpine blooms in late summer, but these bottles keep closed until a certain mighty insect comes along, (we’ll get to that). Some Bottle Gentians can grow up to two feet high, but here at higher elevations, ours are about 5-6 inches off the ground, often missed by those walking by.
What’s in a name? Well, Gentian goes back to 500 BC when King Gentius of Illyria discovered the medicinal effect of the roots of a flower for his troops suffering from malaria. It was soon named after him. Its additional medicinal properties were noted as well as an anti-inflammatory, fever reducer, and other digestive issues.
As with most all plants and animal life, there is a relationship to be noted here. While the sweet goods of the Bottle Gentian are not available to the average little guy pollinator, the humble Bumble Bee has the strength to push open the petals and get to the good stuff, and the good stuff it is. While most flower nectar sugar content is about 32%, the Bottle Gentian is a bug-sized Mountain Dew at 40-45%.
Oh, you love Bumblebees, don’t you? The non-scary teddy bears of the insect world. The fat, fuzzy, Pooh-bear belly, flying slowly to the next flower, legs covered in pollen. Sure, they can sting, but they are not the vengeful wasp that remembers you were the person who took a swat at them. So let’s wander down the Bumble hole for a bit.
Of the 250 species of Bumbles (Bombus) worldwide, 23 of them can be found here in Colorado. Most do prefer mountain environments. Remember, we talked about them as one of the few insects that can pollinate the Monkshood flower.
The average Bumble’s job is to collect pollen from flowers for feeding the hive. They do not make honey for storage like the honeybees. Their pollen is consumed as it is taken in to feed them all. Their entire bodies are custom-designed for the job. From fur with barbed ends that grab pollen, to pollen pockets on their legs to carry as much back to the nest as possible, to long tongues and strong legs to work their way into the more closed flowers like the Bottle Gentian. They even have a special ‘buzz’ that causes pollen to be released from plants to be picked up by their barbed fur.
While their intention is to return to the hive with as much pollen for food as possible, they are strategically sloppy as they move from flower to flower, excess pollen is moved from one plant to another, sloughed off, and pollination happens. Crops such as blueberries, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, and kiwis require the specialized skill of the busy Bumble. Busy is an understatement as Bumblebees can visit twice as many flowers as the average honeybee. They can also keep moving in colder weather when honey bees need to keep to the hive to stay warm. So, you will notice Bumbles in the Spring and Fall more than the honeybees. Most insect wings have to be 86°F+ before they can fly, hence why you see them out more on a hot, sunny day. But Bumbles will warm themselves in the sun and they have the amazing ability to ‘shiver’ and buzz to warm themselves up to get out and gather. To get this shiver going, they can actually uncouple their wings from their flight muscles so they can contract the muscle rapidly and warm it up. Some Bumbles have been seen flying in temps as low as 37°F.
Busy and short-lived, with one underground nest per season of about 200 Bumbles in colder climates, they have much to do and a short time to do it. While they work on their own survival, I wonder how much they are aware of the broader good they do. There is so much more that is fascinating about these little flying teddy bears, but I will leave it here. I hope they enjoy their sugar buzz when they visit the Bottle Gentians. Life is short.
Sources:
- I really tried, but I couldn’t get a video of a Bumble on a Bottle Gentian myself. Here’s a great little video of it from another source. It is only on Facebook though. https://fb.watch/m_7V7mjjnA/
- https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/gentiana_andrewsii.shtml
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee
- https://www.facebook.com/BumblebeeConservationTrust/
- https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/bee-faqs/buzz-pollination/
- The Bees in your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees, Joseph S. Wilson and Olivia Messinger Carril, pp 242-245.
- All photos are copyright the AbertEssays unless otherwise noted. No photo may be used without permission.
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