[Species diversity and colony characteristics of bumblebees in the Hebei region of North China].

Based on the 1893 specimens collected from Hebei Province, Beijing City, and Tianjin City in 2005-2009, and the specimens deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, this paper analyzed the species diversity and colony characteristics of bumblebees in the Hebei region of North China. A total of 32 species belonging to 8 subgenera of Bombus were recorded, with 32 species in Hebei Province, 18 species in Beijing, and 5 species in Tianjin. The bumblebee in Taihang Mountains, Yanshan Mountains, and Bashang Plateau had the highest richness and abundance, and its food-plant included 80 species of 21 families, among which, Compositae, Leguminosae, and Labiatae were most important. Five bumblebee species, i. e., Bombus hypocrita, B. ignitus, B. patagiatus, B. pyrosoma, and B. picipes, had the largest colony, with more than 110 workers, 160 drones, and 30 young queens produced per colony. The success in rearing colonies of each of the 5 species by queens was > 50%, demonstrating that these 5 species had the potential to be mass-reared, with important applied value for crop pollination.