Either she, or maybe one of sisters, has successfully established a nest and this year, worker tree bumblebees are visiting.
One of their favourite plants is Purple Toadflax, often considered a weed, it is very popular with all types of bees:
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Tree bumblebees are one of the easier species to identify, with a brown thorax, black abdomen which has a white tip, as seen on the scabious, a new addition to the garden:
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Slightly similar are carder bumblebees, which also have a brown thorax, but not the distinct white tip:
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With the tree bumblebee being a new arrival in the country (first recorded in the new forest 10 years ago), a survey has been launched by the Natural History Museum to track their progress across the country:
http://www.opalexplorenature.org/TreeBumblebee
TreeBumblebee
Nice photos- I am enjoying watching the pollinators returning to the garden!
ReplyDeleteAre they considered a pest species or benign or even beneficial? - there'd be a bloody panic here if yet another 'introduced' bee were discovered ...
ReplyDeletegreat post man.
Bumblebees are an endangered group, so it's always nice to see some of them around =)
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Piter.
Hi Paul,
ReplyDeleteAn interesting question - they have not been introduced, they have colonised themselves from France and do not appear to be affecting the existing species and are currently considered to be beneficial.
Perhaps one of the reasons being they are not fussy where they nest.
Although we do have plenty of introduced species - mink, crayfish, deer which are doing a lot of damage.
Richard.
Hi Pieter,
ReplyDeleteYes, bumblebees in the UK have suffered massively from the move to mass agriculture, but the tree bumblebee seems to be bucking the trend and expanding it's range.
I have some bumblebees that for the past 2 years have nested in an old bird box on my wall in Walsall west midland.
ReplyDelete