Webinar: Bumble Bees (Great Southeast Pollinator Course — Week Two)
Webinar Date: June 23, 2026
Speakers: Rich Hatfield (Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation); Becky Griffin (UGA Extension)
Series: Great Southeast Pollinator Course
Source: Corrected SRT (Stage 1) — GTBOP_Transcript_2026-06-23_Bumblebees.srt (280 blocks); Archive Package (Stage 2) for structural reference
Audience note: This is a self-paced comprehension check for an engaged general and census-volunteer audience, not a licensed-applicator CEU exam. All questions and answers come only from what the two speakers said in this session.
Question set: 14 multiple-choice questions — 6 Recall, 5 Application, 3 Analysis. Coverage spans both presenter halves: Hatfield’s ecology-and-conservation half (0:00–43:41) and Griffin’s identification-and-census half (43:41–1:24:44).
Question 1
Timestamp Reference: 5:11 – 6:14
Difficulty: Recall
According to Rich Hatfield, what makes bees the most significant of all the insect pollinators?
a) They are active earlier in the year than flies, wasps, and butterflies
b) They intentionally collect and transport pollen, because pollen is their only source of protein
c) They are the only insects that can see ultraviolet floral patterns
d) They visit more flowers per day than any other insect
Correct Answer: b
Explanation: Hatfield said bees outrank other insect pollinators because they deliberately gather pollen — their one protein source — and move it through the landscape, while most other insects only visit flowers for nectar and pick up pollen by accident.
Source in transcript: Blocks 20–25 (~5:11–6:14).
Question 2
Timestamp Reference: 14:32 – 15:46
Difficulty: Recall
How long does it take a bumble bee to develop from egg to winged adult?
a) Four to six days
b) Two to three weeks
c) Four to six weeks
d) Three to four months
Correct Answer: c
Explanation: Hatfield said the whole process from egg through larval instars and pupa to winged adult takes four to six weeks — a long, exposed stretch during which the lone queen must both incubate the brood and forage for herself.
Source in transcript: Blocks 53–56 (~14:32–15:46).
Question 3
Timestamp Reference: 15:48 – 17:20
Difficulty: Application
A grower wants strong pollination of a tomato and pepper planting. Based on Hatfield’s explanation of buzz pollination, why are bumble bees especially valuable here when honey bees are not?
a) Honey bees avoid the family Solanaceae entirely
b) Tomatoes and peppers have poricidal anthers that release pollen only when an insect vibrates them — bumble bees buzz pollinate, honey bees do not
c) Honey bees cannot fly in the cool temperatures when tomatoes bloom
d) Tomatoes and peppers bloom too early in spring for honey bees
Correct Answer: b
Explanation: Hatfield described poricidal anthers as holding pollen locked inside like a salt shaker; only buzz pollination shakes it loose. Many such plants are in the Solanaceae — tomatoes, peppers, eggplant — and he stated honey bees will not perform this action, so those crops do not benefit from honey bee visits.
Source in transcript: Blocks 58–66 (~15:48–17:20).
Question 4
Timestamp Reference: 21:50 – 22:52
Difficulty: Recall
Which bumble bee was the first to be added to the federal Endangered Species Act, and in what year?
a) Franklin’s bumble bee, 2022
b) The Suckley cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus suckleyi), 2025
c) The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis), 2017
d) The western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis), 2017
Correct Answer: c
Explanation: Hatfield listed three ESA species in order: the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) was listed in 2017, Franklin’s in 2022, and the Suckley cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus suckleyi) was proposed in 2025.
Source in transcript: Blocks 79–81 (~21:50–22:52).
Question 5
Timestamp Reference: 25:41 – 27:00
Difficulty: Analysis
Why did Hatfield single out neonicotinoids and other systemic insecticides as a particular concern for bumble bees, beyond ordinary contact pesticides?
a) They are sprayed only during peak bloom, when the most bees are foraging
b) They are water-soluble and absorbed throughout the plant, so they show up in pollen and nectar as repeated sublethal microdoses and can persist in soil for years
c) They kill adult bees instantly on contact with the treated leaf
d) They are applied exclusively by aircraft, so they drift over wide areas
Correct Answer: b
Explanation: Hatfield explained that because these products are water-soluble and move into every tissue of the plant, a bee gets a microdose every time it eats treated pollen or nectar. The effects are sublethal — hurting navigation and lowering reproduction — and one study found persistence seven years after a single application to a woody plant.
Source in transcript: Blocks 92–95 (~25:41–27:00).
Question 6
Timestamp Reference: 27:23 – 28:03
Difficulty: Recall
Which pathogen did Hatfield say was amplified and spread by commercial bumble bees and implicated in steep declines, including the rusty patched and Franklin’s bumble bees?
a) Vairimorpha bombi
b) Deformed wing virus
c) Varroa destructor
d) Colony collapse disorder
Correct Answer: a
Explanation: Hatfield named Vairimorpha bombi as a pathogen amplified and spread by commercial bumble bees in North America, linked to the decline of several species shown on his slide, including the two ESA-listed species.
Source in transcript: Blocks 97–100 (~27:23–28:03).
Question 7
Timestamp Reference: 28:42 – 29:48
Difficulty: Analysis
Hatfield said keeping honey bees is “animal husbandry, not conservation.” Which point from his talk best supports that distinction?
a) Honey bees are harder to keep alive than native bees
b) Honey bees are not endangered — possibly more numerous than ever — and a single hive’s 15,000–80,000 bees compete with native bees for the same pollen and nectar
c) Honey bees do not produce enough honey to justify keeping them
d) Honey bees cannot survive Southeastern winters without help
Correct Answer: b
Explanation: Hatfield contrasted endangered native bumble bees with honey bees, which he said are not in danger and may be at record numbers. Because one hive has 15,000–80,000 mouths and honey bees overlap heavily with native bees on the same generalist plants, keeping them is husbandry — like keeping chickens or dogs — not conservation.
Source in transcript: Blocks 103–107 (~28:42–29:48).
Question 8
Timestamp Reference: 12:40 – 13:52
Difficulty: Application
You read that a “cuckoo bumble bee” has been recorded in an area. Based on Hatfield’s description, what does that tell you about how it reproduces?
a) It builds an unusually large nest of its own and produces only workers
b) It does not build its own nest — it invades another species’ nest, kills or displaces the foundress queen, and uses her workers to raise its own reproductives
c) It lays its eggs in flowers rather than in a nest
d) It overwinters as a colony rather than as a single queen
Correct Answer: b
Explanation: Hatfield compared cuckoo bumble bees to cuckoo birds: they emerge later, find an existing nest, take it over from the foundress queen, and use her already-built worker caste to rear their own offspring, which are all reproductives (queens and males).
Source in transcript: Blocks 45–50 (~12:40–13:52).
Question 9
Timestamp Reference: 9:54 – 10:45
Difficulty: Recall
Where did Hatfield say bumble bee queens most often build their nests?
a) In hollow plant stems above the ground
b) Inside the wax comb of abandoned honey bee hives
c) In an abandoned rodent burrow underground, sometimes also in rock piles, logs, or old bird nests
d) Suspended from tree branches like paper wasp nests
Correct Answer: c
Explanation: Hatfield said the nest is usually in an abandoned rodent burrow underground, with rock piles and logs also important; nests can occasionally be above ground in trees or old bird nests, but most are underground or at the surface.
Source in transcript: Blocks 38–39, 69 (~9:54–10:45, ~18:18).
Question 10
Timestamp Reference: 32:04 – 33:11
Difficulty: Application
A homeowner asks what to plant to help bumble bee queens specifically. Drawing on Hatfield’s advice, what should you emphasize?
a) A single large block of one reliable nectar plant for simplicity
b) Diverse plantings that include trees and shrubs flowering very early in spring and blooms that last into late fall, such as goldenrod and milkweed
c) Showy double-flowered horticultural varieties for maximum color
d) Plants treated at the nursery so they arrive pest-free
Correct Answer: b
Explanation: Hatfield stressed plant diversity (“plant diversity is nutrition for bees”) and called out early-spring flowering trees and shrubs to help queens found nests, plus late-fall blooms like goldenrod and milkweed for queens building fat reserves. He warned against horticultural varieties lacking pollen or nectar and against pre-treated nursery plants.
Source in transcript: Blocks 113–118 (~32:04–33:46).
Question 11
Timestamp Reference: 52:40 – 54:24
Difficulty: Recall
According to Becky Griffin, what is the most common bumble bee seen in Georgia, and roughly how often does she encounter it?
a) The American bumble bee, about 50% of sightings
b) The two-spotted bumble bee, about 30% of sightings
c) The eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens), about 70% of sightings
d) The Sandersoni bee (Bombus sandersoni), about 70% of sightings
Correct Answer: c
Explanation: Griffin identified the eastern bumble bee, Bombus impatiens, as the most common bumble bee in Georgia and said about 70% of the bumble bees she sees are this species. She offered it as the one name to remember.
Source in transcript: Blocks 183, 187 (~52:40–54:24).
Question 12
Timestamp Reference: 1:09:38 – 1:10:05
Difficulty: Application
A first-time volunteer is nervous about the Great Southeast Pollinator Census. Based on Griffin’s guidance, what do they actually need to be able to do?
a) Identify each bumble bee to species before counting it
b) Recognize only that the insect is a bumble bee — species-level identification is not required for the census
c) Distinguish queens from workers in the field
d) Record the plant species and the bumble bee species together
Correct Answer: b
Explanation: Griffin said directly that you do not need to know the species of bumble bee for the census — you only need to recognize that you are dealing with a bumble bee. The deeper biology is for interest, not a counting requirement.
Source in transcript: Blocks 235–236 (~1:09:23–1:10:05).
Question 13
Timestamp Reference: 57:31 – 59:39
Difficulty: Analysis
Griffin showed a bumble bee next to a metallic sweat bee to explain why the bumble bee moves so much more pollen. What is the mechanism she described?
a) The bumble bee has a longer tongue, so it reaches more pollen
b) The bumble bee’s branched body hair (pile) picks up a positive electrostatic charge in flight, so negatively charged pollen jumps onto it and stays trapped in the branched hairs
c) The bumble bee has more legs available to carry pollen
d) The bumble bee secretes a sticky substance that glues pollen to its body
Correct Answer: b
Explanation: Griffin explained that bumble bee hair (pile) becomes positively charged as the bee flies — like a balloon rubbed on hair — so negatively charged pollen is naturally attracted with little effort (“the whoop effect”), and the branched structure of the hairs (seen under the electron microscope) traps pollen so it does not fall off in flight. The sweat bee has sparse hair and no pollen basket, carrying pollen on leg bristles instead.
Source in transcript: Blocks 197–207 (~57:31–1:00:23).
Question 14
Timestamp Reference: 1:10:47 – 1:12:28
Difficulty: Application
During the census you see a fat, fuzzy bee with a hairy abdomen, then another bee whose abdomen is smooth, shiny, and bald. Using Griffin’s mnemonic, what are you most likely looking at?
a) A queen bumble bee and a worker bumble bee
b) A male and a female of the same species
c) A bumble bee (“fuzzy fanny”) and a carpenter bee (“shiny hiney”)
d) Two carpenter bees of different ages
Correct Answer: c
Explanation: Griffin’s census tell is that a bumble bee is fat and fuzzy with a hairy abdomen — a “fuzzy fanny” — while a carpenter bee has a smooth, bald abdomen, a “shiny hiney.” She explained the bald abdomen keeps friction down as the carpenter bee tunnels through wood, a callback to the Week One carpenter bee session.
Source in transcript: Blocks 240–243 (~1:10:47–1:12:45).
Answer Key
1-b, 2-c, 3-b, 4-c, 5-b, 6-a, 7-b, 8-b, 9-c, 10-b, 11-c, 12-b, 13-b, 14-c
Processed for UGA Center for Urban Agriculture / Great Southeast Pollinator Course Archives
Source: Corrected SRT (Stage 1) — GTBOP_Transcript_2026-06-23_Bumblebees.srt (280 blocks); Archive Package (Stage 2)