The humble bumblebee

Wood's New Illustrated Natural History (1885)

One of our fantastic Community Scientists - Rob - recently got in touch to tell us about an interesting fact he discovered whilst reading 'Wood's New Illustrated Natural History'.

Written in 1885 by the Reverend J. G. Wood (a parson-naturalist who also edited Boys Own magazine and gave illustrated 'sketch lectures' on zoology), the book refers to bumblebees as 'humble bees', due to the humming sound they make whilst flying. Apparently Darwin also referred to them as humble bees, and the name changed to the more familiar 'bumblebee' during the 20th century.

If you have any interesting natural history facts, especially about bumblebees, then do send them in!