These bees have adapted to their cold environment by being able to keep their internal temperature within a certain range while also being able to expel heat to keep the colony warm.

Also, B. frigidus has developed a relationship with Mertensia paniculata so that the flowers' color signals to the bees when to obtain nectar.

Bombus frigidus was described in 1854 by Frederick Smith in the Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum.

[4] Bombus frigidus is a rare bee that is found from Alaska to the eastern shore of Canada, and as far south as Colorado.

During the winter, the queen will stay in a small chamber in the ground, which she had previously found or dug for herself, called a hibernaculum.

She will also start to build a wax cup, called a honey pot, to store the pollen and nectar.

After mating, the males will die and the new queens will obtain nectar for a short time before finding a new hibernaculum for the winter.

B. frigidus bees are one of the larger types of bumblebees, with an estimated dry mass of 0.257 grams and volume of 40.3 mm3 for the queens.

If the bee is too large, it won't be able to reach the necessary internal temperature to fly, which would leave it vulnerable to predators and unable to procure nutrition.

[10] Bombus frigidus has been observed to preferentially breed with non-nestmates by recognizing naturally borne cues.

On the rare occasions when two nestmate bees copulate, the time is shown to be very brief which means that sperm may not have been transferred.

In addition, sexually active males and females often fail to disperse during the mating season and will thus encounter one another.

This failure to disperse makes the recognition of naturally born cues vital for the success of a hive's genes.

For bees on the eastern half of North America, the nectar usually comes from Cirsium (thistles), Epilobium, Geranium, Mertensia (bluebells), Taraxacum officinale (dandelion), and Trifolium (clovers).

[6] Bombus frigidus is predominantly parasitized by mites of the genus Pneumolaelaps including: longanalis, richardsi, and sinahi.

Male bees commonly enter the nests of their own and other species, giving the mites the chance to spread to another colony or to another queen.

[13] At first glance, the relationship between B. frigidus and Mertensia paniculata (bluebells) may look as if the bees simply steal the nectar without helping the flower to pollinate, but this is only half of the story.

[1] High-elevation cold habitats also tend to have fewer species in them and thus contain less diversity and more straightforward food webs.

This means that if B. frigidus feels the effects of climate change, then the other species which interact with the bees will be negatively impacted as well.

[1] Less important (but still significant) threats include loss of habitat, use of pesticides, diseases from managed pollinators (diseases which come from human raised insects like honey bees and ant farm ants), and competition with bees that are moving north due to warmer temperatures and lost habitats.

[1] To increase pollination and production of the lowbush blueberry plant in Newfoundland, Canada, non-native bee species have been imported.