Tag Archives: Buff-tailed bumblebee

260/366 Searching the scabious, 1

16 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by in insects, plants, wildflowers

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In recent weeks, when the weather has been fine and the air relatively still, I’ve been spending time searching the Devil’s-bit scabious for bees. Not just any bees, but four scarce and endangered bees. This is part of Buglife’s ‘Searching for Scabious’ project, which

aims to improve our understanding of the distribution and conservation status of some of Wales’ rarest and most threatened solitary bees – the Large Scabious Mining Bee (Andrena hattorfiana) and its associated cuckoo, the Armed nomad bee (Nomada armata), and Small Scabious Mining Bee (Andrena marginata) and its cuckoo, the Silver-sided nomad bee (Nomada argentata).

I wasn’t familiar with these bees and am not very good at bee identification in general but Liam Olds, Buglife’s local conservation officer, has put together an excellent explainer video, which can be accessed on YouTube, so I thought I’d join the search.

Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to find any of the scarce bees at the two local sites where Devil’s-bit scabious grows in abundance (and neither has Liam, which was reassuring for me re my search skills but bad news for the bees). The bees I did find most commonly were the appropriately named Common carder (Bombus pascuorum) (below, left) and the Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) (below, right).

Liam very kindly helped to identify the other small bees I found. These lovely little furrow bees are either the White-zoned furrow bee (Lasioglossum leucozonium) or the Bull-headed furrow bee (Lasioglossum zonulum) – the two species are too similar to tell them apart without closer examination.

I also found several of these more distinctive individuals, the Wood-carving leafcutter bee (Megachile ligniseca). You can find out more about them, and watch a little video of their nest-building skills, on the BWARS website. Meantime, I’m heading back to the scabious for another look.

251/366 Bs and Ts

07 Monday Sep 2020

Posted by in insects, plants, wildflowers

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Bumblebees and Teasels – I’m not sure why but they seem to be a match made in heaven.

In fact, bumblebees are the insects I see most often nectaring on Teasels, though the Burnet moths also find Teasel to their taste, as did this Meadow brown butterfly yesterday.

249/366 Small creatures after rain

05 Saturday Sep 2020

Posted by in autumn, insects

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Actually, it rained before my walk, during my walk and after I got home, but ‘Small creatures between showers’ was a bit long for a title. Here, then, are the said creatures …

200905 beetles

First up, these beetles were cosying up in an umbellifer flower head. I couldn’t see enough to identify them and wasn’t going to disturb their comfort to find out more.

200905 brown tails

This is a web of Brown-tail moth larvae, the ones some people freak out about because their hairs can irritate the skin. The solution to that problem is, of course, easy: look, enjoy, wonder, admire, but don’t touch!

200905 buff-tail queen

There weren’t many flying critters about but bumblebees will fly whatever the weather, as shown by this gorgeous queen Buff-tailed bumble.

200905 knopper gall

Perhaps the littlest creature, though I didn’t look in to investigate, was the one that was lurking in this Knopper gall (spot the antennae!).

200905 emperor

And, the prize for the most magnificent, was this male Emperor dragonfly. I had to linger a while, waiting for him to settle, and then sneak up behind the bushes, but His Imperial Majesty was definitely worth the wait. What a handsome creature he is, despite his somewhat ragged wings.

Hebe and bumble

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in flowers, nature, plants, winter

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I always have a little smile to myself when I see a Hebe because, of course, it’s a New Zealand native plant and reminds me of my homeland (though I was surprised to read today that they’re also native to South America, the Falkland Islands and one island in French Polynesia).

They’re tough plants. The two species shown here were photographed in 0° Celsius, in between hail showers, yet they show no signs of being affected by the Welsh winter and, in fact, are providing much-needed food for the few bees (that’s a Buff-tailed bumblebee in my photo) and other insects that are still out and about. As well as the cold, they’re also very tolerant of salty sea air so they’re a good plant for coastal gardens like those here in Penarth.

In case you didn’t know, the plant is named after the Greek goddess Hebe, daughter of chief god Zeus and his wife Hera. Hebe was barista on Mt Olympus, serving ambrosia and nectar to all the other gods and goddesses, until she married Heracles and became a stay-at-home mum to their two kids.

The return of the bumblebees

02 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by in insects, nature

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As the Mary Kay Ash quote goes: ‘Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly but the bumblebee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway.’ And flying they are, now that spring is here. The warmer weather brings the bumblebees – all queens – out of their long sleep, to begin the process of nest building and egg laying. In the past week I’ve seen several in flight and managed to get photos of two different species.

160402 Bombus hypnorum Tree bumblebee

Though it’s common in Europe and Asia, this Tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) is not a British native. In fact, its ancestors only arrived in Britain in 2001. It has, however, made itself right at home and, as far as scientists can tell, is not damaging the native bee populations. It’s important we monitor its spread and population though, so please help by reporting your sightings to the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society (BWARS).

160402 Bombus terrestris Buff-tailed bumblebee

The Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) is often the first to be seen each year, emerging as early as February if the weather’s warm enough. Its nests, occupying old mouse and vole holes underground, can house as many as 500 individuals.

You will notice in my photo that this bumblebee has some hitchhikers. These are mites but please do not be concerned for this little creature. The mites are normal, they actually help keep bumblebee nests clean, and only in extreme cases do they affect the bumblebee’s health and welfare. You can read more here.