>My understanding of the bumbles is they work as a family unit until winter,  then the queens hibernate..  so only one jump per season???  And in the UK and NA,  that season is only 6 months...??

Here in the UK it depends on the species.

In a mild winter we sometimes see Bombus terrestris queens coming out of hibernation in February, sometimes even late January, and their nests can go on until September.  Other species appear much later and some mature (i.e. produce queens) earlier.

A recent (2000/2001) immigrant from Europe is the Tree bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum, which is unusual in that the nests mature very early, often producing queens in late June.  These queens do not hibernate, but often start new nests.  That behaviour has enabled it to colonise the whole of England in the short time that it has been here - echoes of AHB.  Unfortunately, it does not know that it is the Tree bumblebee and it tends to prefer the towns and cities where it nests either under the eaves, usually at the corner of houses, or in bird boxes.  It has another unusual characteristic: when the young queens are produced the drones swirl around madly in a cloud outside the nest waiting for them.  Of course, to the public this is seen as a dangerous swarm and our association can get up to 30 calls a day about them.

Best wishes

Peter 
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W

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