# Bumblebees

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumblebees/37239>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [October 17, 2000, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumblebees/37239 "2000-10-17T08:56:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e79b87/32.png) [@Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumblebees/37239/1 "2000-10-17T08:56:14Z")

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According to Cecil Bumblebees only live two-three feet above ground.

Why do i have an entore colony living in my chimney then? We are on the second floor of a house and the chimeys are not interconnected with those on the ground floor.

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumblebees/37239/2 "2000-10-17T15:45:20Z")

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This was not a comment by Cecil, but by SDStaff Doug. Here’s the link to the Mailbag Answer: [The Straight Dope Mailbag: Honeybees have hives, wasps and hornets have nests–what do bumblebees have?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbumblebee.html)

I will ask Doug to respond to your question.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumblebees/37239/3 "2000-10-18T16:07:50Z")

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I can’t find anything to explain bumblebees in a chimney.

The Bumblebee pages have [instructions on moving a bumblebee nest](http://www.mearns.org.uk/mrssmith/bees/faq.htm#nest), but the author doesn’t say categorically that bumblebees only nest close to the ground. The author does mention that «_Some of the bumblebees that make smaller nests … do sometimes chose strange places to nest_» and has as an example the pocket of a gardening jacket left in a shed.

[Encyclopædia Britannica](http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/7/0,5716,18327+1,00.html) says «_They often nest in the ground, commonly in deserted bird or mouse nests._» I notice that they don’t say _always_.

In general, I think absolute statements about a species’ conduct have the risk of being contradicted by the exceptional behaviour of a few offbeat members of that species. Maybe you have exceptional bumblebees, or a race of super-bumblebees, living in your chimney?

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**Author:** ![Doug\_Yanega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@Doug\_Yanega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Yanega)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2000, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumblebees/37239/4 "2000-10-18T20:57:29Z")

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I would be VERY surprised if those were bumblebees in anyone’s chimney. What would be holding the nest _up_?? Doesn’t make any sense, and I presume it to be a misidentification. I have _never_ heard of a bumblebee nest more than 2 meters above ground level, either.

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**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumblebees/37239/5 "2000-10-20T20:58:02Z")

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[homer simpson] I wish I had a race of super-bumblebees living in my chimny[/homer simpson]