DO BUMBLEBEES (HYMENOPTERA, APIDAE) REALLY FORAGE CLOSE TO THEIR NESTS

This paper questions whether bumblebees really forage as close to thei r nests as has commonly been assumed in the bumblebee literature. Thre e experiments are described that involved marking and reobservation bu mblebees. None of these experiments showed any tendency for bumblebees to concentrate their foraging close to (e.g., within 50 m from) the n est. Rather, the results suggested that bumblebees may prefer to forag e at some distance from their nest. Further, a closer review of the bu mblebee literature showed that similar findings were quite common. Som e possible explanations to the observed behavior patterns are given as outlines for further research.