Bombus pratorum queens use aggressive behavior rather than pheromones to maintain dominance over the workers.

It shares many characteristics with other bees in the Bombus family, including its monandrous mating and pollen collecting.

[8] They are most closely related to stingless bees and are distinguished from other species by characteristics of male genitalia.

Generally, queens emerge from hibernation in early spring having been fertilized in late summer and they find a site to begin their nest.

Colonies for early bumblebees tend to be on the smaller side and reach their maximum numbers earlier in the year than other species.

[2] Some workers develop foraging abilities just days after they emerge which allows the queen to focus on laying her eggs.

These are generally the smaller of the bees and are usually characterized by weaker legs and wings because they rarely fly.

[3] Emerging males can serve as an indicator that the cycle is coming to an end because they are not produced until late in the season, once stores in the nest have become sufficient.

Males do not return to the nest and instead can be seen seeking shelter or protection by staying underneath flowers.

At the end of the colony cycle there is not much reduction in sperm left over in the queen's spermatheca, suggesting that she has enough.

At such shallow depths, they may be more susceptible to temperature changes which could be related to their early emergence in the spring.

[10] It feeds on flowering plants with short corollae, as white clover, thistles, sage, lavender, Asteraceae, cotoneaster, and Allium.

[5] B. pratorum are a bit more selective in the flowers that they pollinate in comparison with other bumblebees, visiting fabaceae plants almost exclusively.

This may be due to the fact that, although they emerge early, they have a short colony cycle and in this limited time they need to be able to provide high quality food.

Bombus sylvestris[16] in particular are cuckoo parasites who tend to not show much aggression at the start of the colony cycle until competition begins.