Sunday 26 June 2011

Weekend Bumblebees

The hot weather this weekend has been an ideal opportunity to look for bumblebees and the wild flowers that grow alongside the river are perfect location.
Trying to identify bumblebees can be difficult as not only do several species have the same colour, but the same species can have different colours - so clarifications and corrections are most welcome.
This one is a female worker, probably a white tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) -although garden bumblebees look very similar.
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Although a nunesance in a lot of lawns, the flowering clover is particular attractive to bumblebees especially this female common carder bee (Bombus pascuorum):
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With it's black body and red tail, this female worker is probably a red tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius):
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Although this bee has different colours, it is probably the same species as the red tailed above, but this is a male.
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This bumblebee is probably a queen, as it is a lot larger than the males and workers.  The red tail would suggest that it is also a red tailed bumblebee.  But the dark wings could indicate that it is actually a cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus rupestris):
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2 comments:

  1. Great bee photos!

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  2. Hi TJ

    Thanks for your kind comments, there will be a couple of posts on bees to come.
    I've also had a good read of your blog - good luck with the bee keeping.

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