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earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: bumblebee

Q is for queen

22 Sunday Dec 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bombus terrestris, bumblebee, queen bumblebees

Q is a difficult letter in my annual countdown. Quercus, the Latin name for the mighty Oak tree, has featured in my two previous countdowns but this year I thought I’d pay homage to those majestic creatures, the queen bumblebees. They’ve featured several times in this year’s blogs (for example, A bumblebee and its mimic, 11 March, and Early bumblebee, 26 March) but, right now, they’ll mostly be hibernating. Though they do emerge during the winter months when the weather’s unseasonably warm and sunny, it’s not until ground temperatures begin to rise and the warmth of springtime becomes more constant that they will be encouraged to awaken, find a cosy burrow, and lay the eggs that will produce the next generation of beautiful bumblebees.

241222 q is for queen bombus terrestris

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Bumbles and Mallow

02 Wednesday Oct 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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Tags

British wildflowers, Buff-tailed bumblebee, bumblebee, Common mallow

As it’s been grey here for several days, I decided to share a recent happy scene from a sunny day, a pair of bumblebees feasting on Mallow pollen. Let’s consider this a mid-week time-line cleanser. Tomorrow will see the return of the insects!

241002 bumbles and mallow

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Early bumblebee

26 Tuesday Mar 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

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Tags

Bombus pratorum, British bumblebees, bumblebee, Early bumblebee, spring bumblebee

Living up to its name, I found this Early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) last Friday alternating between sitting on newly laid woodchip mulch and the adjacent stone wall, basking in the short-lived spring sunshine (we’re now back to grey rainy days). As the Bumblebee Conservation website reports, this bumble is ‘One of the “Big 7” widespread and abundant species, found in a wide range of habitats across the UK’, and is ‘a spring specialist’. If you’re not sure which bumblebee species you’ve seen, the Bumblebee Conservation website also has an excellent online guide that shows clear images of each species’ queens and workers, males and females, as appropriate.

240326 bombus pratorum

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A bathing bumble

15 Saturday Apr 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Tags

British bumblebees, bumblebee, bumblebee ablutions, bumblebee cleaning, White-tailed bumblebee

Though it’s often difficult to tell Buff-tailed from White-tailed, I think this is a queen White-tailed bumblebee. I caught her giving herself a good clean, and found her motions both fascinating and relaxing. In this short video, I slowed her movements down to half the actual speed the better to see more clearly what she was doing. What a beautiful creature she is!

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259/365 Bumbling around

16 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bees, bees on scabious, British wildflowers, Buff-tailed bumble bee, bumblebee, Common carder, Devil's-bit scabious

I keep coming back to the Devil’s-bit scabious, I know, but it’s just so lovely and so full of life now that many of the other wildflowers have gone over. Bumblebees, in particular, seem to love feasting on it. I think these are Buff-tailed bumblebees and Common carders but don’t quote me!

190916 bumbles on scabious (1)
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190916 bumbles on scabious (3)
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190916 bumbles on scabious (5)
190916 bumbles on scabious (6)
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167/365 Shelter

16 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, bumblebee, bumblebee in rose, bumblebee sheltering from rain, wild rose

When the rain continues to fall and the wind to blow, what’s a bumblebee to do but find itself a nice, cosy shelter with food underfoot.

190616 sheltering bumblebee

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95/365 Braving the weather

05 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British insects, bumblebee, flies, hoverfly, insects, ladybird

I only managed to grab an hour’s walk today, once again dodging the rain showers that have been rolling in throughout the day. I thought I might blog about the wild garlic that’s covering every inch of the wilder areas in Penarth’s Alexandra Park but decided it would be better to wait until the flowers are at their peak as that would make for better photos. Then, as I was checking out the garlic and taking a few shots, my eye was caught by the number of insects sitting on their leaves, basking in the fleeting patches of sunshine, braving the weather on this mostly grey wet day. So here they are …

190405 braving the weather (6)
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190405 braving the weather (4)
190405 braving the weather (2)
190405 braving the weather (5)
190405 braving the weather (1)
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Happy #FloralFriday!

26 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

#FloralFriday, bumblebee, bumblebee on flower, lilac wildflower

From me and the bee …

181026 bumble on wildflower

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Bumble- or humble-bee?

24 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bumblebee, bumblebee on flowers, Hemp agrimony, humblebee, knapweed, scabious

180824 bumblebee (1)

Bumble: verb; move or act in an awkward or confused manner (Oxford Dictionary).
Personally, I think it’s a bit sad that the beautiful bumblebee is associated with confusion and awkwardness of movement, though I admit they can seem rather stupid when they fly in the open windows of my apartment and then bump repeatedly against the glass trying to get out again. Most other insects seem able to work out where the open window is.

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When it comes to finding nourishment though, they seem perfectly able to home directly in on the next delicious flower. And I’ve recently discovered that the bumblebee wasn’t always so named – it was originally the humblebee, not because it was considered modest or lowly but rather because of the humming sound it makes as it flies along.

180824 bumblebee (3)
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Signs of spring: minibeasts

03 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bees, bumblebee, flies, hoverflies, ladybird, minibeasts, signs of spring

‘If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.’
~ E. O. Wilson (1929 – ), American biologist, environmentalist, author

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180401 minibeast (4) Honey bee
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180401 minibeast (6) fly
180401 minibeast (7) fly
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180401 minibeast (9) Eristalis tenax
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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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