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(slow music)
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(upbeat music)
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No doubt about it, no other insects
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make us as happy as bumblebees
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wherever we happen to see them.
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On snowy meadows or in our town centers.
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And wherever a bumblebee flies, there'll be flowers.
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They use all the daylight there is.
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They work about 18 hours a day all the way through
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the summer, much longer than their honey bee cousins.
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But who knows about their dark side, about the secret places
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and their dark nests hidden underground?
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Bumblebees fly up to 6,000 meters up mountains.
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Some of them will only live in high alpine regions.
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Some are still a complete mystery.
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Their nests have never been filmed.
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Bumblebees have enemies as well.
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Some colorful, others furry.
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(bee buzzing)
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(mid-tempo music)
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They don't get a friendly welcome everywhere.
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But if they have to defend themselves they will,
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and they'll use their powerful sting.
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Challenge a bumblebee, you run a serious risk of losing.
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This film follows a young bumblebee queen through a year
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to experience with her the life of the bee's furry sisters.
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(slow music)
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Our story starts late in winter,
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or rather at the very beginning of spring
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when you feel the days growing longer
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and the sun regains its strength.
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Next to the last spots of snow, the year's first blossom
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on this (mumbles) cherry tree.
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With the temperature only just above freezing,
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the first buds are opening.
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And the first warm rays of the sun bring out the flies.
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It's still too early for most insects,
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the few that didn't die with the cold last autumn.
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But where is the next generation
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waiting to fly, drone, and buzz its way into the world?
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About 20 centimeters down beneath the snow and earth,
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the bumblebee queens have survived.
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Their colonies died in the fall.
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Here they lie frozen until they're awakened by the sun.
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The glycol in their blood stops them freezing to death.
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But if the snow thaws slightly bringing moisture
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and ice crystals, they can't stand it too long.
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This bumblebee urgently needs some real warmth
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to end her hibernation safely.
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(bumblebee buzzing)
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Dizzy and still tired, our queen
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tries to reach light and warmth.
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It's six months since she started her long winter sleep,
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but she's finally woken up.
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Her first task, cleaning her characteristic
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yellow, black fur.
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Bumblebees appear to be relaxed and friendly insects.
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However, scientists are regularly surprised
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by bumblebees and their behavior.
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We're a long way from uncovering all their mysteries.
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(gentle upbeat music)
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A bumblebee can start to fly at two degrees above zero.
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It's no problem for them to cross big fields of snow,
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but they're always on the lookout for blossoms and food.
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Our queen is hungry.
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She needs energy fast.
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But she's out of luck.
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(dramatic music)
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(water flowing)
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This bumblebee was already weak,
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but now she has a much worse problem.
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If she doesn't reach the bank quickly, she'll soon be dead.
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(slow music)
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Our bumblebee lives in the foothills of the Alps.
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The climate is harsh here,
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not the best premise for survival.
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Only a few bumblebees will survive their first days.
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Just a few hundred meters lower the temperatures are milder.
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Here the spring's explosion is reaching its climax,
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and the insects will find enough food
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to regain their energy.
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(gentle upbeat music)
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Butterflies that survived the winter, like this Comma,
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find their nectar in the dwarf laurel's blossom.
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All around are willows with their yellow catkins.
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There are about 100 different kinds of willow trees.
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They burn bright like torches
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at the edge of the still pale woods.
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These catkins are one of the most important food sources
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for insects in the springtime.
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This is a hornfaced bee, distantly related to the bumble.
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The pollen seems to have blocked her proboscis.
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It's collapsible.
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It helps to gather nectar and other liquids.
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(slow music)
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Proboscises come in different lengths depending on
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the species of bumblebee and their specialization.
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For the early flying insects, the blossom
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of the goat willow is a vital first food.
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The first honey bees of the year dip greedily
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into the nectar of the willow catkins.
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(bees buzzing)
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Back up the mountain to our bumblebee queen.
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Spring has not yet arrived here.
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The grass frogs may be in the mood for love,
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but not every animal can take the cold and damp,
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especially not the insects.
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(slow music)
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Our queen has survived her accident
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and the dive into the icy water.
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She was helped by her fur,
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which insulates her against the cold.
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Now she really has to get a glimpse of sun
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and energy-rich food.
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In the blossom of the Easter Rose,
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she finds the energy source, nectar,
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which she greedily sucks out with her proboscis.
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Restored to full strength, she aims for her next goal.
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Here in the fields of spring she has to find a new home,
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a home for the coming season.
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Ideally a burrow abandoned by another animal.
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(upbeat music)
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Our bumblebee queen starts a long recce flight.
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She needs to find a hollow in the ground
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to build into a nest.
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Bumblebees breed in a nest.
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If they find holes left by mice, birds, or weasels,
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they'll occupy them.
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Burrows like these are perfect for them.
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Ground squirrels build burrows and live in them.
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They definitely don't like bumblebees.
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They know bumblebees have only one aim,
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to intrude into their nests.
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The rodents had these rudeness
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and they know how to counter it.
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They clog the burrow with themselves.
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(water babbling)
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(slow music)
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The greater mouse weasel, or ermine,
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likes to build little burrows in the earth.
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But only for its own use, and to impress its spouse.
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Faster than you could imagine,
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our bumblebee queen appears and senses an opportunity.
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But the ermine is watching.
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Back to the drawing board.
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Another place that might mean shelter
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are birds nesting boxes.
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But sometimes they're occupied.
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As in the case of this black redtail family.
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No room here, especially not for a lodger.
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This pair of blue tits moved
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into their comfortable home some weeks ago.
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It's dry and tucked away,
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perfect for the parents and their six youngsters.
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(birds chirping)
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The entrance is very small, three centimeters at most.
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Perfect, no larger animal can slip through.
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The blue tit's enemies are locked out.
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(birds chirping)
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Our bumblebee queen happens by.
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Of course, she's attracted to the nesting box,
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especially to the tiny hole which is the entrance.
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(bumblebee buzzing)
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The blue tit knows something bad is coming.
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The bumblebee seems hypnotized
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by the tiny hole, and what's behind it.
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(slow music)
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The blue tit must get back inside the nesting box
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before the bumblebee to keep her offspring safe.
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The blue tit's powerful instinct to save her brood
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makes her ignore the danger of being stung or bitten.
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Bumblebees are tough adversaries.
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They cling on tight.
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(dramatic music)
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(slow music)
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The young bumblebee queen has lost out again.
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But luckily she's not hurt.
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If she'd lost one of her wings, that would be the end.
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Bumblebees are tough and can stand hard fights.
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But our queen needs to find a home really urgently now.
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Without a base, she won't be able to breed,
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and she has to to survive.
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This could be her last chance, a mouse hole.
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She buzzes around it for several minutes, another recce.
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Will she dare explore further?
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Okay, the decision is made.
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She goes in, into the lion's den.
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She seems nervous.
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This can be seen by the fact
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that she's repeatedly cleaning herself.
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Mouse holes go down about 20 or 30 centimeters.
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Only at the end will she know if this one is inhabited.
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(dramatic music)
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Again, our queen seems to be out of luck.
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The mouse has fully furnished this home.
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She seems to have lost her courage at the last moment.
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And now the mouse has spotted the intruder.
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Our bumblebee has made up her mind to fight.
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She's determined not to give up this time.
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Raising her leg is a clear sign.
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If you approach me, I will fight.
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The mouse retreats.
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She respects the bumblebee's sting and her powerful jaws.
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Now the bumblebee takes her chance
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and enters the mouse's living room.
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But this isn't the end of the battle, no way.
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Mice are tough fighters, and to expel them
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from their own nest is a challenging task.
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This could be a life or death struggle for both parties.
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Suddenly, victory for the bumblebee.
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The mouse surrenders.
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The bumblebee's aggression has won the day.
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The mouse abandons her own home.
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After this strength-sapping battle she needs a rest.
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But what finally counts is that she managed
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to expel a rodent 100 times heavier than she is.
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Now she's the owner of a nest, and this will give her
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the possibility of founding her own colony.
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Nearby, a colony of tree bumblebees
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have occupied an old nesting box.
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They're one step further in their development,
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because here we find a lot of working individuals.
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They've hatched over the last few days.
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The queen is the biggest bee inside,
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and she's enthroned in the middle.
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The numbers in the nest will grow into the summer
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until there are about 100 bumblebees.
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Compared to honey bees, this is a very small colony.
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A beehive houses up to 80,000 bees.
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Right now our queen has to hurry to produce some offspring.
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She has prepared this honey pot.
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It's made of wax and filled with nectar.
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It's her food store, and she can drink from it
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whenever the weather outside is too bad to fly.
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(slow music)
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Bumblebees do not make honeycombs.
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They build their nests in a different way.
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They produce wax and excrete it from their hindquarters,
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and then they transfer it to their mandibles.
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Then they form tiny cups.
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The next step is to produce offspring.
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She places her eggs in the little prepared cups.
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They were fertilized the previous autumn
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before the bumblebee retired for the long winter break.
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She puts five to 15 eggs in each container.
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In every egg there's a larva.
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Within 20 days the larva will pupate.
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The bumblebee queen is a surprisingly caring mother.
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Every egg is treated very carefully.
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She checks the eggs to make sure they're not damaged.
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After that she seals the small bowls.
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Now they can start to grow.
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Outside the spring has reached its climax.
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Countless buds are now open, and lure all kinds
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of insects with their yellow pollen.
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(slow music)
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But what looks to us like a snowy white dreamland
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looks very different to bumblebees.
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Science tells us a bumblebee's world
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is tinted blue, like this.
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It's April, and the lure of the fruit blossom
262
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has become irresistible.
263
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Apricot and apple blossom are a special feast.
264
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These are idyllic times for bumblebees.
265
00:20:02,820 --> 00:20:05,637
And the fruit orchards of the alpine uplands
266
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offer a supply of pure energy.
267
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The latest studies suggest that bumblebees might have
268
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the fastest color recognition of all animals.
269
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It takes them milliseconds.
270
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This honey bee is enjoying her bath in dandelion pollen.
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Honey bees are proverbial hard workers.
272
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But bumblebees visit five times more blossoms everyday.
273
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And bumblebees have a unique way
274
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of taking care of their brood.
275
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Again and again the queen huddles up to her spawn.
276
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She brings them up to a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius.
277
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No other insect shows such care while breeding.
278
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20 days later, the big moment.
279
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The bumblebee offspring hatch.
280
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At the beginning of its life
281
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a bumblebee is colorless and soft.
282
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Even her wings haven't unfolded.
283
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Safe in the nest, they dry out quickly.
284
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Inside the nest the temperature is about 30 degrees Celsius.
285
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One after the other the bumblebees hatch.
286
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They're all workers.
287
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The queen's colony is steadily growing.
288
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During the summer, the colony may reach 500.
289
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Now, the queen produces eggs and nothing else.
290
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She will not leave the nest again.
291
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Spring shifts into summer.
292
00:22:01,162 --> 00:22:04,747
Common lungwort is visited by a number of different insects.
293
00:22:04,747 --> 00:22:07,080
For example, the carder bee.
294
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But not everything here is what it seems.
295
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(upbeat music)
296
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The large bee fly looks like a bumblebee
297
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at first sight, but it's not.
298
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This is a fly and has an extremely long proboscis.
299
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This animal carefully cleans its proboscis and wings.
300
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Grooming is very important for flying insects.
301
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Any infestation of parasites would lead to a quick death.
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Bee flies have dense hair-like fur.
303
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They specialize in bumble blossoms just like the bumblebees.
304
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Through mimicry they have a massive advantage
305
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because they have very few predators.
306
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Anything that looks like a bumblebee
307
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won't be attacked while out looking for food and nectar.
308
00:23:08,116 --> 00:23:12,211
But there's more to come, bumblebee flies.
309
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This kind of fly even imitates the bumblebee's colors.
310
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Seen from a distance, it's almost impossible to tell
311
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if it's a bumblebee or a fly.
312
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But even the best camouflage can be useless.
313
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Nobody can cheat this specialist, the bee-eater.
314
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These colorful birds love to live in regions
315
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with a mild Mediterranean climate.
316
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They breed in clay and (mumbles) walls.
317
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And they like eating flying insects.
318
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The bee-eaters' name is their game.
319
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Bees are their preferred food.
320
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They catch bumblebees on the wing with their powerful beaks.
321
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They're extremely skilled at squeezing the insects
322
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to remove their stings.
323
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Prepared, chewed, and softened,
324
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even bumblebees provide an excellent meal.
325
00:24:32,369 --> 00:24:34,786
(slow music)
326
00:24:37,787 --> 00:24:41,665
A flower garden is not an ideal habitat for bee-eaters,
327
00:24:41,665 --> 00:24:45,182
but it's a perfect place for bumblebees.
328
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This garden means blossom in abundance, full of nectar.
329
00:24:57,833 --> 00:24:59,938
And there are some gardeners who are never satisfied
330
00:24:59,938 --> 00:25:04,105
with the number of bumblebees they find on their land.
331
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For thousands of years, bee keepers
332
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have kept bees in hives to make honey.
333
00:25:16,054 --> 00:25:18,434
But only in the 21st century have we seen
334
00:25:18,434 --> 00:25:22,267
the flight of the bumblebee coming from a box.
335
00:25:34,114 --> 00:25:37,197
Westerlo is a smalll town in Belgium.
336
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White-tailed bumblebees are bred here.
337
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(mid-tempo music)
338
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Gardeners like to have bumblebees in their backyards
339
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because the busy insects set off straight away for blossoms.
340
00:25:54,510 --> 00:25:57,225
The tiny animals are examined in this laboratory
341
00:25:57,225 --> 00:26:01,392
for parasites or diseases before they're allowed to breed.
342
00:26:06,922 --> 00:26:10,591
This takes place in controlled conditions.
343
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Every queen has her own colony,
344
00:26:14,026 --> 00:26:17,616
and every colony has its own container.
345
00:26:17,616 --> 00:26:21,199
Hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands.
346
00:26:28,270 --> 00:26:29,784
As soon as the first workers have hatched
347
00:26:29,784 --> 00:26:32,146
they're fed pellets of pollen,
348
00:26:32,146 --> 00:26:34,039
an artificial environment that provides
349
00:26:34,039 --> 00:26:35,606
as much energy for development
350
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as the best natural surroundings.
351
00:26:45,144 --> 00:26:48,977
This is the industrial breeding of bumblebees.
352
00:26:51,246 --> 00:26:53,712
They're bought by large gardening companies
353
00:26:53,712 --> 00:26:55,548
who are guaranteed regular harvests
354
00:26:55,548 --> 00:26:58,715
by the pollinating bumblebee colonies.
355
00:27:01,546 --> 00:27:05,014
Fruit growers increasingly deploy bumblebee colonies
356
00:27:05,014 --> 00:27:07,017
when a cold or damp spring
357
00:27:07,017 --> 00:27:10,600
has disrupted the flight of the honey bees.
358
00:27:15,463 --> 00:27:19,375
Seeing bumblebees in plastic nests as domesticated animals
359
00:27:19,375 --> 00:27:22,125
is still a strange idea for many.
360
00:27:28,469 --> 00:27:31,134
The first young bumblebees hatch.
361
00:27:31,134 --> 00:27:33,782
Now the breeding box is getting too small.
362
00:27:33,782 --> 00:27:36,602
The bees have to change their container.
363
00:27:36,602 --> 00:27:40,769
This one is bigger, and the red light calms the bees.
364
00:27:41,874 --> 00:27:44,898
Finally the bumblebees are provided with a supply
365
00:27:44,898 --> 00:27:48,981
of liquid nourishment for the long journey ahead.
366
00:27:51,462 --> 00:27:54,825
Every year about 400,000 young bumblebee colonies
367
00:27:54,825 --> 00:27:58,242
invade Europe from this plant in Belgium.
368
00:28:03,208 --> 00:28:04,958
And these portable colonies fertilize
369
00:28:04,958 --> 00:28:09,291
millions of crop plants across the continent.
370
00:28:09,291 --> 00:28:11,708
(slow music)
371
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If honey bees work hard, bumblebees work even harder.
372
00:28:17,774 --> 00:28:20,816
They collect pollen up to 18 hours a day.
373
00:28:20,816 --> 00:28:23,983
That's 1,000 blossoms day in, day out.
374
00:28:26,899 --> 00:28:29,311
In greenhouses too, gardeners prefer
375
00:28:29,311 --> 00:28:32,978
to have bumblebees pollinating their plants.
376
00:28:41,043 --> 00:28:43,922
Today we harvest tomatoes in greenhouses
377
00:28:43,922 --> 00:28:48,089
from March to October thanks to all the bumblebees.
378
00:29:00,837 --> 00:29:02,741
Summer has come.
379
00:29:02,741 --> 00:29:05,506
Our queen's colony has made good progress.
380
00:29:05,506 --> 00:29:07,175
All the workers return with their
381
00:29:07,175 --> 00:29:09,677
pollen sacs full to the brim.
382
00:29:09,677 --> 00:29:11,510
It's a very good sign.
383
00:29:16,402 --> 00:29:17,617
The pollen will be stripped off
384
00:29:17,617 --> 00:29:21,200
into little storage containers made of wax.
385
00:29:22,251 --> 00:29:24,668
(slow music)
386
00:29:27,570 --> 00:29:29,152
The deposited pollen and nectar
387
00:29:29,152 --> 00:29:31,985
will be food for the whole colony.
388
00:29:37,229 --> 00:29:40,712
In the middle of the pulsating nests, it's the queen.
389
00:29:40,712 --> 00:29:42,072
Her duty is to produce eggs.
390
00:29:42,072 --> 00:29:44,655
More and more and more of them.
391
00:29:45,865 --> 00:29:47,839
(soaring orchestral music)
392
00:29:47,839 --> 00:29:51,589
High mountains are a barrier to many animals.
393
00:29:52,444 --> 00:29:54,344
But not for bumblebees.
394
00:29:54,344 --> 00:29:58,850
In India, bumblebees have been sighted at 6,000 meters.
395
00:29:58,850 --> 00:30:03,017
And in the European Alps they're often seen on glaciers.
396
00:30:09,227 --> 00:30:13,325
Some species are extremely resistant thanks to their fur.
397
00:30:13,325 --> 00:30:16,081
Take the buff-tailed bumblebee.
398
00:30:16,081 --> 00:30:18,425
This species creates colonies at an altitude
399
00:30:18,425 --> 00:30:20,258
of up to 2,700 meters.
400
00:30:22,541 --> 00:30:26,398
Bumblebees are located all over the Northern Hemisphere.
401
00:30:26,398 --> 00:30:30,565
But they prefer landscapes with temperate cooler weather.
402
00:30:38,467 --> 00:30:41,779
High mountain meadows, even far beyond the treeline,
403
00:30:41,779 --> 00:30:44,635
contain many insects attracted by
404
00:30:44,635 --> 00:30:47,468
the great variety of wild flowers.
405
00:30:48,357 --> 00:30:51,752
(water flowing)
406
00:30:51,752 --> 00:30:54,447
The alpine climate is cold and moist.
407
00:30:54,447 --> 00:30:56,369
Some species of bumblebees cope well
408
00:30:56,369 --> 00:30:58,645
with these conditions and stay forever.
409
00:30:58,645 --> 00:30:59,919
(slow music)
410
00:30:59,919 --> 00:31:02,919
This grass bumblebee is one example.
411
00:31:05,853 --> 00:31:09,815
Many bumblebees have become habitat specialists.
412
00:31:09,815 --> 00:31:13,282
For example, the mountain forest bumblebee.
413
00:31:13,282 --> 00:31:15,290
This species likes to be in very high
414
00:31:15,290 --> 00:31:17,540
and exposed alpine regions.
415
00:31:26,852 --> 00:31:28,260
The gray and white dumbledore
416
00:31:28,260 --> 00:31:32,051
is a purely alpine bumblebee species.
417
00:31:32,051 --> 00:31:34,485
Besides its coloring, its special feature
418
00:31:34,485 --> 00:31:37,152
is its conspicuously rough coat.
419
00:31:39,246 --> 00:31:42,234
But the dumbledore is still a mystery today.
420
00:31:42,234 --> 00:31:46,328
Her colony rarely exceeds 50 individuals.
421
00:31:46,328 --> 00:31:49,306
These are the first pictures ever taken
422
00:31:49,306 --> 00:31:51,389
inside a dumbledore nest.
423
00:32:03,110 --> 00:32:05,185
Living here up in the cold mountains
424
00:32:05,185 --> 00:32:09,352
is the results of a long, long evolutionary adaptation.
425
00:32:13,791 --> 00:32:16,579
Fur protects another inhabitant
426
00:32:16,579 --> 00:32:19,329
of mountain regions, brown bears.
427
00:32:25,537 --> 00:32:28,120
(bright music)
428
00:32:33,475 --> 00:32:35,841
Though his diet is mostly vegetarian,
429
00:32:35,841 --> 00:32:38,674
he also likes to look for insects.
430
00:32:46,839 --> 00:32:48,929
And even the biggest and strongest bear
431
00:32:48,929 --> 00:32:52,846
has one little indulgence, his greed for honey.
432
00:32:54,677 --> 00:32:59,355
It's in many books and fairy tales, and it's true.
433
00:32:59,355 --> 00:33:03,355
Hollow trees are most likely to house wild bees.
434
00:33:05,507 --> 00:33:08,735
Bears' noses are very sensitive.
435
00:33:08,735 --> 00:33:12,747
They can smell honey from hundreds of meters.
436
00:33:12,747 --> 00:33:15,164
(slow music)
437
00:33:21,668 --> 00:33:22,946
And it's not always honey bees
438
00:33:22,946 --> 00:33:26,107
that produce this enticing smell.
439
00:33:26,107 --> 00:33:30,274
Bumblebee's nests too exude a tempting scent of honey.
440
00:33:31,782 --> 00:33:34,532
(dramatic music)
441
00:33:46,860 --> 00:33:51,027
Once the bear has made up his mind, he's unstoppable.
442
00:33:52,250 --> 00:33:55,583
Even stings to his head won't deter him.
443
00:33:56,453 --> 00:33:59,953
On the contrary, they seem to spur him on.
444
00:34:11,295 --> 00:34:13,303
The big claws on his powerful paws
445
00:34:13,303 --> 00:34:17,470
are an excellent tool to tear apart underground nests.
446
00:34:19,405 --> 00:34:22,572
The bumblebees face total destruction.
447
00:34:40,295 --> 00:34:44,128
Now the bumblebees have to abandon their nest.
448
00:35:11,714 --> 00:35:15,881
The bear grabs big chunks and swallows them whole.
449
00:35:17,509 --> 00:35:19,420
Along with the sweet nectar he devours
450
00:35:19,420 --> 00:35:21,920
larvae, pupae, and bumblebees.
451
00:35:24,179 --> 00:35:29,168
And this seems to make his feast even more delicious.
452
00:35:29,168 --> 00:35:31,585
(slow music)
453
00:35:42,820 --> 00:35:46,987
He waddles away satisfied and unfazed by the bees.
454
00:35:51,744 --> 00:35:55,911
Has he already caught the scent of the next honey supply?
455
00:35:56,939 --> 00:35:59,360
(bright music)
456
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:03,527
But several bumblebees have been caught in his coat.
457
00:36:05,770 --> 00:36:07,280
They can take sweet revenge
458
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:10,030
for the destructive interruption.
459
00:36:24,724 --> 00:36:26,664
(slow music)
460
00:36:26,664 --> 00:36:29,824
Some bumblebee species are true specialists.
461
00:36:29,824 --> 00:36:33,074
They take an adaptation to a new level.
462
00:36:35,669 --> 00:36:38,608
This is the monkshood bumblebee.
463
00:36:38,608 --> 00:36:39,955
It lives only in the Alps
464
00:36:39,955 --> 00:36:43,622
between 800 and 2,500 meters above sea level
465
00:36:44,544 --> 00:36:46,788
and it has the longest proboscis
466
00:36:46,788 --> 00:36:49,847
of all the Europe subspecies.
467
00:36:49,847 --> 00:36:53,764
It uses it to suck up water from small puddles.
468
00:36:55,628 --> 00:36:59,295
Fights easily break out over the best sites.
469
00:37:05,696 --> 00:37:08,330
But this impressive drinking tool actually developed
470
00:37:08,330 --> 00:37:11,163
for a completely different reason.
471
00:37:12,596 --> 00:37:14,550
One that has to do with a flower,
472
00:37:14,550 --> 00:37:17,374
the Aconitum, or monkshood.
473
00:37:17,374 --> 00:37:19,922
(slow music)
474
00:37:19,922 --> 00:37:21,962
There are several species of this poisonous plant
475
00:37:21,962 --> 00:37:23,712
in the alpine region.
476
00:37:24,578 --> 00:37:28,745
It's not hard to see why the plant is called monkshood.
477
00:37:34,102 --> 00:37:35,611
Take a closer look.
478
00:37:35,611 --> 00:37:38,278
The petals look like tiny hoods.
479
00:37:45,711 --> 00:37:48,790
The monkshood bumblebee specializes in gathering nectar
480
00:37:48,790 --> 00:37:52,598
from these bizarrely shaped flowers.
481
00:37:52,598 --> 00:37:55,161
It has to climb over the flower's stamens
482
00:37:55,161 --> 00:37:56,895
to get to the nectar, which is at
483
00:37:56,895 --> 00:38:00,024
the opposite end of the flower.
484
00:38:00,024 --> 00:38:02,168
And even then the bumblebee can only reach it
485
00:38:02,168 --> 00:38:04,585
thanks to its long proboscis.
486
00:38:07,404 --> 00:38:08,741
The monkshood bumblebee drinks
487
00:38:08,741 --> 00:38:13,383
almost exclusively from these flowers, and vice versa.
488
00:38:13,383 --> 00:38:14,586
The monkshood depends on this
489
00:38:14,586 --> 00:38:17,531
bumblebee species for pollination.
490
00:38:17,531 --> 00:38:21,448
No other insect will climb through its blossom.
491
00:38:24,038 --> 00:38:26,575
It's a textbook case of co-evolution,
492
00:38:26,575 --> 00:38:28,120
where two species develop
493
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,811
uniquely well matched characteristics.
494
00:38:31,811 --> 00:38:35,547
Perfect synchronization, but it's also risky.
495
00:38:35,547 --> 00:38:39,464
Because is one disappears, the other is doomed.
496
00:38:41,081 --> 00:38:44,591
Not all these co-dependencies have been discovered.
497
00:38:44,591 --> 00:38:47,139
But it's a fact that among the bumblebee varieties
498
00:38:47,139 --> 00:38:50,166
there are endangered species.
499
00:38:50,166 --> 00:38:52,438
And it's a fair assumption that their extinction
500
00:38:52,438 --> 00:38:54,301
may well mean death for a number
501
00:38:54,301 --> 00:38:57,071
of so far unidentified flowers.
502
00:38:57,071 --> 00:38:59,488
(slow music)
503
00:39:05,041 --> 00:39:07,318
When summer starts most meadows are still
504
00:39:07,318 --> 00:39:11,054
a sea of flowers and a riot of colors.
505
00:39:11,054 --> 00:39:12,947
These colors have only one purpose,
506
00:39:12,947 --> 00:39:15,272
to attract pollinating insects,
507
00:39:15,272 --> 00:39:17,772
bees, bumblebees, butterflies.
508
00:39:27,086 --> 00:39:28,768
But as summer reaches its peak,
509
00:39:28,768 --> 00:39:31,935
the luxuriant splendor begins to wane.
510
00:39:35,142 --> 00:39:39,240
Ears of cereal now dominate the landscape.
511
00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:43,407
Red poppy and blue cornflower have long since faded.
512
00:39:47,926 --> 00:39:51,988
Field borders are true sanctuaries during these meager times
513
00:39:51,988 --> 00:39:55,488
when food supplies dwindle so drastically.
514
00:39:56,698 --> 00:39:59,448
(dramatic music)
515
00:40:02,156 --> 00:40:05,978
Midsummer also brings the mowers and the scythes.
516
00:40:05,978 --> 00:40:08,258
When the meadows are cut there are even less flowers
517
00:40:08,258 --> 00:40:10,758
for the nectar hungry insects.
518
00:40:18,608 --> 00:40:20,208
But meadows have to be cut back,
519
00:40:20,208 --> 00:40:23,081
otherwise grass has gained the upper hand.
520
00:40:23,081 --> 00:40:25,629
Meadows are man-made landscapes,
521
00:40:25,629 --> 00:40:29,462
a cultivated coexistence of grasses and herbs.
522
00:40:33,492 --> 00:40:36,425
Many farmers who practice near natural farming
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00:40:36,425 --> 00:40:40,420
have begun to mow their meadows in several stages.
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00:40:40,420 --> 00:40:42,197
This means significantly more work
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00:40:42,197 --> 00:40:44,915
and it can't always be managed.
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00:40:44,915 --> 00:40:47,267
But the insects that pollinate the flowers
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00:40:47,267 --> 00:40:51,434
then have more time and opportunity to gather reserves.
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00:40:53,477 --> 00:40:56,098
(slow music)
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00:40:56,098 --> 00:40:58,284
Meadows can be very varied.
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00:40:58,284 --> 00:41:01,210
They're home to hundreds of different plants
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and precious habitats for a variety of living creatures,
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some of them only visible under a microscope.
533
00:41:09,024 --> 00:41:11,263
When vast meadows are cut down in summer,
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00:41:11,263 --> 00:41:12,989
the pressure of competition among
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00:41:12,989 --> 00:41:16,572
pollinating insects increases dramatically.
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00:41:20,811 --> 00:41:23,495
The more variety there is in the remaining green space
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00:41:23,495 --> 00:41:25,825
and the denser the vegetation, the greater the number
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00:41:25,825 --> 00:41:29,158
and variety of insects that can survive.
539
00:41:32,285 --> 00:41:35,535
Flower gardens are a perfect biosphere.
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00:41:37,099 --> 00:41:40,001
They provide a steady supply of flowers until late summer,
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vital for nectar gathering insects.
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00:41:43,334 --> 00:41:45,751
(slow music)
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00:41:54,067 --> 00:41:55,817
Even urban communities are starting
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00:41:55,817 --> 00:41:58,067
to develop more biospheres.
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00:41:59,370 --> 00:42:03,029
In Austria's green cities, more than 70% of the surface area
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00:42:03,029 --> 00:42:06,406
provides places for bumblebees to find
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00:42:06,406 --> 00:42:09,656
new food supplies in the summer months.
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00:42:14,399 --> 00:42:16,792
Even inner city parks and ornamental borders
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00:42:16,792 --> 00:42:20,375
serve as vital filling stations for nectar.
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00:42:25,103 --> 00:42:26,381
In August, dead bumblebees
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00:42:26,381 --> 00:42:29,214
are beginning to line the streets.
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00:42:30,289 --> 00:42:32,687
Sensitive landscape gardening may provide food supplies
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00:42:32,687 --> 00:42:35,271
throughout the summer months.
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00:42:35,271 --> 00:42:38,721
But now the cycle is reaching its end.
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00:42:38,721 --> 00:42:40,951
(slow music)
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00:42:40,951 --> 00:42:45,118
One of the last lifelines is the late blooming silver lime.
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00:42:46,219 --> 00:42:50,386
Their tiny yellowish flowers bloom until late August.
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00:42:51,455 --> 00:42:55,622
Silver lime trees are irresistible to hungry bumblebees.
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00:43:02,439 --> 00:43:06,351
The flowers of the silver lime contain mannose,
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00:43:06,351 --> 00:43:10,518
a kind of sugar long suspected to be lethal for bumblebees.
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00:43:13,881 --> 00:43:15,667
But the theory is wrong.
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00:43:15,667 --> 00:43:18,134
At least, it's too simple.
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00:43:18,134 --> 00:43:20,953
Nature is more complex than that.
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00:43:20,953 --> 00:43:22,993
Mannose or no mannose, bumblebees
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00:43:22,993 --> 00:43:25,799
love the silver lime's nectar.
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00:43:25,799 --> 00:43:28,093
But the long meager months of summer
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00:43:28,093 --> 00:43:32,019
have weakened the insects and the competition is fierce.
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00:43:32,019 --> 00:43:34,059
The energy needed to reach the precious nectar
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00:43:34,059 --> 00:43:36,081
exceeds the energy the bumblebees
570
00:43:36,081 --> 00:43:38,343
can extract from the flower.
571
00:43:38,343 --> 00:43:39,653
(dramatic music)
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00:43:39,653 --> 00:43:40,653
So they die.
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00:43:46,626 --> 00:43:47,931
To survive a bumblebee needs
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00:43:47,931 --> 00:43:50,931
about 150 milligrams of sugar a day.
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00:43:54,038 --> 00:43:56,399
It's the shortage of nectar at the very end of summer
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00:43:56,399 --> 00:43:58,846
that kills so many bumblebees
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00:43:58,846 --> 00:44:02,429
and makes them food for the ant population.
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00:44:07,415 --> 00:44:11,086
However, there is another great danger.
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The most dangerous parasite for bumblebees is the bee moth.
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00:44:21,795 --> 00:44:25,962
It eats the wax, spins, and pupates in the bumblebee nest
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00:44:29,719 --> 00:44:32,469
and leaves as a fully grown moth.
582
00:44:43,410 --> 00:44:45,808
Once the bumblebee nest has been breached,
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00:44:45,808 --> 00:44:49,975
pests like moths and mites have an easy time of it.
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00:44:51,215 --> 00:44:54,499
Bumblebee mites are useful for the bumblebees.
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00:44:54,499 --> 00:44:58,416
They clean the nest of dung and waste products.
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00:44:59,816 --> 00:45:02,438
But an infestation of mites spells doom
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00:45:02,438 --> 00:45:04,259
for a bumblebee colony.
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00:45:04,259 --> 00:45:07,831
When mites breed en masse they damage the brood.
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00:45:07,831 --> 00:45:11,998
Many bees are left crippled and incapable of flight.
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00:45:14,254 --> 00:45:17,163
It's an ugly sight when the mites fix themselves
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00:45:17,163 --> 00:45:20,801
to the neck of the bumblebee and start to suck.
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00:45:20,801 --> 00:45:24,468
Bumblebees can't get rid of these parasites.
593
00:45:28,910 --> 00:45:31,660
Back to our queen and her colony.
594
00:45:33,399 --> 00:45:37,478
At the turn of the season something has changed.
595
00:45:37,478 --> 00:45:39,619
The queen seems listless.
596
00:45:39,619 --> 00:45:41,702
The colony is in turmoil.
597
00:45:44,995 --> 00:45:48,649
The last year's queen tries quietly to retreat.
598
00:45:48,649 --> 00:45:51,433
But suddenly mutiny breaks out in the ranks.
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00:45:51,433 --> 00:45:54,350
Her own brood starts attacking her.
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00:45:58,813 --> 00:46:02,063
The queen is stung, bitten, and flayed.
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00:46:08,007 --> 00:46:09,257
Until she dies.
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00:46:13,855 --> 00:46:17,246
The queen bumblebee survived the icy winter months,
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00:46:17,246 --> 00:46:20,414
claimed a nest, and founded a colony.
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00:46:20,414 --> 00:46:23,608
Now she's killed by her own offspring.
605
00:46:23,608 --> 00:46:25,714
(slow music)
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00:46:25,714 --> 00:46:27,112
After six months of toil she has
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00:46:27,112 --> 00:46:30,279
served her purpose and is disposed of.
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00:46:32,505 --> 00:46:36,672
A merciless cycle of generations rules a bumblebee colony.
609
00:46:43,557 --> 00:46:46,259
Shortly afterwards many large bumblebees appear
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00:46:46,259 --> 00:46:48,721
among the workers of the colony.
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00:46:48,721 --> 00:46:53,109
They are the new queens, hatched towards the end of summer
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00:46:53,109 --> 00:46:55,609
to ensure the next generation.
613
00:46:57,474 --> 00:46:59,699
Now is the time to watch future bumblebee queens
614
00:46:59,699 --> 00:47:03,866
leave their underground nests on their maiden mating flight.
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00:47:05,752 --> 00:47:08,812
Drones, the much smaller males of the species,
616
00:47:08,812 --> 00:47:11,582
wait for a once in a lifetime opportunity.
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00:47:11,582 --> 00:47:15,749
They follow the young females hoping for a chance to mate.
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00:47:23,973 --> 00:47:27,012
Mating can last for half an hour or more.
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00:47:27,012 --> 00:47:29,891
And one insemination is enough to enable the queen
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00:47:29,891 --> 00:47:34,058
to start a new colony, next spring after hibernation.
621
00:47:41,944 --> 00:47:45,142
(dramatic music)
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00:47:45,142 --> 00:47:48,017
Not all of them will get that far though.
623
00:47:48,017 --> 00:47:52,184
Where bumblebees swarm, predators are never far behind.
624
00:47:53,123 --> 00:47:55,404
And the courtship is so intense that the bumblebees
625
00:47:55,404 --> 00:47:59,404
don't notice the approach of the praying mantis.
626
00:48:04,584 --> 00:48:07,453
Future queen or hopeful beau, whoever is caught
627
00:48:07,453 --> 00:48:10,703
in the mantis' spiked forelegs is lost.
628
00:48:15,833 --> 00:48:19,500
The mantis will consume her prey completely.
629
00:48:28,941 --> 00:48:31,643
Autumn has finally arrived.
630
00:48:31,643 --> 00:48:33,665
Autumn crocuses, faintly reminiscent
631
00:48:33,665 --> 00:48:36,303
of spring's earliest blooms,
632
00:48:36,303 --> 00:48:40,075
are a last salute from the flower kingdom.
633
00:48:40,075 --> 00:48:42,062
But the days of the bumblebees who now visit
634
00:48:42,062 --> 00:48:44,645
the autumn crocus are numbered.
635
00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:47,628
(slow music)
636
00:48:47,628 --> 00:48:50,484
The promise of pollen still lures the bumblebees
637
00:48:50,484 --> 00:48:54,651
to the last gentians, but their life has reached its end.
638
00:48:57,945 --> 00:49:02,112
Once the leaves turn, frost is just around the corner.
639
00:49:08,028 --> 00:49:12,195
When the leaves fall, so do the last of the bumblebees.
640
00:49:13,857 --> 00:49:16,625
The colors of autumn are deceptive.
641
00:49:16,625 --> 00:49:19,760
They no longer signal a source of food.
642
00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:23,427
These leaves announce the arrival of winter.
643
00:49:25,077 --> 00:49:27,160
Now all the colonies die.
644
00:49:40,309 --> 00:49:44,711
Only inseminated future queens are required to survive.
645
00:49:44,711 --> 00:49:46,854
They will find a hiding place underground
646
00:49:46,854 --> 00:49:48,945
under moss and dead leaves
647
00:49:48,945 --> 00:49:51,633
where they will go into (mumbles) for several months
648
00:49:51,633 --> 00:49:54,716
protected by their furry exoskeleton.
649
00:49:58,207 --> 00:50:00,979
When spring returns the young queens will emerge again
650
00:50:00,979 --> 00:50:04,549
to found new colonies and play their role
651
00:50:04,549 --> 00:50:07,132
in the endless cycle of nature.
51159
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