Hi, I'm Rusti

she/her

I am a short-tongued bumble bee. I live in the midwestern and eastern United States. Many people know me as the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee. I am only about half an inch long but I am a mighty pollinator! [13]

Cool Things About Me

I flap my wings 200 times per second! [2]

I smell and taste through tiny hairs on my antenna and mouth. [6]

I have a total of 5 eyes. [6]

Listen to an interview with Rusti

Pollinator Action News RustiA Conversation with Rusti

00:00 / 04:17

Podcast by Beth Reuter

Podcast References

Thinking question:

What do you think it would be like to be a bee?

"Rusty Patched Bumble Bee" by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region is marked under CC PDM 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

Worldwide, there are over 20,000 species of bee, with over 4,400 in North America. 47 of those species are my family, Bumble Bees. I live socially but most bees are solitary, meaning they live by themselves. We bees are very important pollinators! [3]

My hairiness is one of the things that makes me good at pollination - the pollen sticks all over me.

Flowers communicate with me by having nectar guides - special patterns that show me where to land, in ultraviolet light, a wavelength that humans can’t see. [5]

I have special places called a pollen baskets on my back legs for collecting pollen.

I can fly when it is as cold as 50 degrees F by using my muscles to shiver and warm up my body. [7]

I experience optimism. [4]

More Cool Things About Me

"Rusty Patched Bumble Bee" by gamelaner is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/