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Here’s a picture of a bumblebee Andy found on the street in front of our house. She’s dead. But beautiful, eh? Fuzzy. Soft to the touch (like a kitten’s ear). Honeybees are fuzzy too, but it’s hard to perceive their softness because they’re small. Almost too small to feel.

Bumblebees are interesting. The workers don’t winter over so those big, fat, juicy bumbles you see bobbing around in the spring are queens working alone to gather all the nectar and pollen they need to start a new colony from scratch.

Unlike honeybees, bumblebees are native to the United States. And they’re great for our vegetable gardens too. Their buzzing, bumbling action literally helps shake the pollen out of native plants like squash and tomatoes.

There’s a children’s book called “The Bumblebee” by Angela Sheehan. Beautifully illustrated by Maurice Pledger. It outlines the bumble’s life cycle in the most charming way. I love the mix of good, descriptive information with tenderly drawn illustrations. It’s obvious that the authors hold the intelligence of their young readers in high esteem.