Don’t burn that butterfly’s blankie!

Salamanders, toads and frogs have a similar strategy, burrowing under the leaves and into the moist ground to ride out the winter. So do the young of one of Michigan’s rare turtle species.

“Eastern box turtle hatchlings, Michigan’s only true land-based turtle, hibernate under leaf litter their first winter after hatching,” said DNR biologist Thomas Goniea.

Unlike their aquatic counterparts, these black-and-yellow-patterned turtles can be found in the forest instead of lakes and ponds.

Like Elsa’s dramatic retreat to her frozen palace, the bumblebee queen also seeks solitude in winter.

As summer fades to fall, the bumblebee queen turns her attention to stocking up on pollen and nectar, building up fat and filling her honey stomach, which is a reservoir for honey. This gives her nutrition through the winter.

She also needs a suitable underground burrow to hibernate in. Bumblebees are a social species, but the bumblebee queen hibernates alone. Bumblebees dig in vegetation and loose soil, so the location they choose is paramount.

It must be protected, and never in a place that could be warmed by the winter sun, which could trick her into waking up too early.

Bumblebees, including the rusty-patched bumblebee, which was added to the federal list of threatened and endangered species in 2017, are in decline due to a variety of factors.

This bee is among 20 kinds of bumblebees native to Michigan as recorded by the Michigan Natural Features Inventory.

Others among them are the northern amber bumblebee and the Sanderson’s bumblebee. By leaving a layer of leaf litter, you’ll provide a protected and shaded burrow for the bumblebee queen, helping ensure the next generation of bees in spring.