October Second
The workers and drone bumblebees die at the approach of winter, but the queen takes shelter under the bark of trees, in stone piles and in other places which offer protection, where she remains all winter. She then comes out and gathers moss and grass for a nest, or she may appropriate the deserted nest of a meadow mouse. After making several wax cells, she fills them with pollen and honey, deposits an egg in each cell, and when the young hatch, they feed upon the sweets.