>Greetings, I'm looking for info on how bumblebees survive the winter in
northern climes like Manitoba.

In nature (cold winter)  only the new young freshly mated queen survives.
She burrows down below the freeze line and overwinters. Then comes out in
spring and gathers nectar & pollen and makes a ball on which she lays and
raises the first daughters. In Missouri I have seen nests as high as around
300 workers in late fall.

The old queen & nest dies as the bees do not store enough honey to winter
on. I am not sure of the story in the tropics.

To overwinter a nest of bumble bees you would need to supply the food needs
in Canada.

A simple bumble bee hive can be made by simply making a square wooden box
slightly bigger than the nest with a Plexiglas top. Add an entrance. Dig
the nest  from the ground and place in the box and move to a new out of the
way location. Outside shaded is best but could be inside but I have never
tried. The bumble bees will soon return to normal activities which you can
observe through the Plexiglas. Hours of pleasure can be had  for little
effort!
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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