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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: British bumblebees

Have you seen a bumblebee yet?

18 Saturday Mar 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bombus lapidarius, British bumblebees, Red-tailed bumbelbee, willow catkins

I’ve seen a couple of Buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) but didn’t manage to get photos of those, so I was delighted yesterday to find a Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius), which was so busy feasting on the pollen of willow catkins that it stayed still for some pics.

230318 red-tailed bumble

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Companions

31 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Bombus lapidarius, Bombus pascuorum, British bees, British bumblebees, Common carder bee, male Red-tailed bumblebee, Red-tailed bumblebee

As our hot dry summer draws to a close, flowers are in short supply so, sometimes, hungry critters just have to share. Here, a male Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius), left, shares with a Common carder bee (Bombus pascuorum). (Yes, I know the Red-tailed doesn’t actually have a red tail and it certainly doesn’t look like the images I had been searching through when trying to put a name to it, but my friendly local Twitter expert tells me ‘males get sun bleached rather quickly’ and assures me this identification is correct. This is precisely why I don’t really ‘do’ bees!)

220831 Bombus lapidarius MALE n Bombus pascuorum

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Red-tailed bumblebee

07 Monday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

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Bombus lapidarius, British bumblebees, Red-tailed bumblebee

During Saturday’s walk I was delighted to spot my first Red-tailed (Bombus lapidarius) and Tree bumblebees (Bombus hypnorum) of the year. The only food source in a 20-square-metre area (except for a few daisies on a patch of grass) was a flowering Mahonia bush, which had attracted not only those two bumblebees but also a Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), as well as several species of fly, bee and hoverfly. It just showed how important flowers are for these early emerging insects.

220307 red-tailed bumble

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Queen bumbles

26 Saturday Feb 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

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Bombus terrestris, British bumblebees, Buff-tailed bumblebee, queen bumblebee

Not having been out walking for 12 days until yesterday means my first Springtime sightings are probably a bit behind many people’s. Still, it was an absolute delight yesterday to hear, three times, the buzzing of a bumblebee, and to watch this queen Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) searching amongst the low vegetation for a place – perhaps the abandoned burrow of a vole or shrew – to create a nest for her first brood of the year.

220226 buff-tailed bumblebee

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Bumbling on

09 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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Tags

British bumblebees, Buff-tailed bumblebee, bumblebees, bumblees snoozing on flowers, Common carder bee

On grey and gloomy autumn days, it’s always cheering to see the bumblebees still out and about, even if sometimes they’re actually snoozing on their chosen flowers.

210903 buff-tailed bumble210903 common carder (1)210903 common carder (2)

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The bumble and thistle

08 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants, wildflowers

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British bumblebees, British wildflowers, Buff-tailed bumblebee, bumblee and thistle, Carline thistle

210808 bumble and carline thistle (1)

Carline thistles may look dry and unappetising but, as you can see from the enthusiastic feeding of this Buff-tailed bumblebee, they are in fact nectar rich, and favourites not only of bees but also of many species of butterflies.

210808 bumble and carline thistle (2)

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Blossom and bumbles

22 Monday Mar 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, spring, trees

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British bumblebees, Buff-tailed bumblebee, Cherry blossom, Spring blossom

At this time of year the ornamental cherry tree outside my flat is awash with blossom, of a warm white shade flushed with the merest tinge of pink.

210322 blossom and bumbles (1)

It looks glorious, especially on sunny days, and, at a time when there are few flowers in bloom, it’s a magnet for newly emerging, hungry insects of the flying kind.

210322 blossom and bumbles (2)

Yesterday, as well as a few Honey bees, I spotted half a dozen, all Buff-tailed, bumblebees doddering from one flower to the next, before lurching haphazardly to the next branch, dislodging the delicate petals as they passed.

210322 blossom and bumbles (3)

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363/365 An extremely early bumble

29 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, winter

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Bombus hypnorum, British bumblebees, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Tree bumblebee, winter bumblebee sighting

I was amazed today at Cosmeston to hear a buzzing sound and then watch this bumblebee fly slowly past, to settle on the trunk of a nearby tree. It’s a Tree bumblebee, I think, Bombus hypnorum, a species that usually emerges from its winter sleep in March.

191229 tree bumblebee (1)

Yesterday I saw a Red admiral butterfly, and now today this bumblebee. It just shows how mild our winter weather has been so far.

191229 tree bumblebee (2)

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Another day, another bumble

27 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring

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Tags

Bombus lapidarius, British bumblebees, bumblebee, pollinators, Red-tailed bumblebee, signs of spring, willow catkin, willow flower

Isn’t she beautiful? While out walking in a local park I spotted this queen Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) enjoying the pollen of a newly opened willow flower  … and I smiled all the way home.

180327 Red-tailed bumblebee

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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