Beetastic

Making the most of the respite from the recent rain, the garden has proved popular with the bees.

Building upon the success of previous solitary bee boxes (http://viewsoftheock.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/return-of-mason-bees.html), two new simple constructions (blocks of wood 5 x 8 cm deep with 8mm diameter drilled holes) are now providing over 100 new nest sites. 

With red mason bees checking them out within 5 minutes of them being put up:

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It's not only solitary bees visiting the garden, most bumblebee nests have are now established so the worker bees are making the most of the warmth and the flowering plants to provide food for the nest, including this garden bumblebee:

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And the once scarce tree bumblebee, easily identifiable by its brown thorax and white tip on it's abdomen, is probably the most common bumblebee in the garden:
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But this year there is a new visitor to the garden, a large queen. The markings on her thorax, two very faint brown stripes on the top and bottom, could be those of a discoloured tree bumblebee:

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Yet it is either late or early (for a second brood) for a tree queen bumblebee, so it is more likely to be a ruderal bumblebee (Bombus ruderatus) - identification confirmed thanks to the excellent people on Wild About Britain (http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/)

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The bumblebee conservation trust (http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/identification/scarce/) describe the bee as 'scarce' and mainly found in the south of England.
In the Field Guide to Bumblebees of Great Britain & Ireland (Edwards & Jenner, 2005) it is described as a declining species which nests in old mouse and voles nests and is associated with taller open grassland and scrub.
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Hopefully this is the first of many sightings of the ruderal bumblebee and in the next few years it may become as common as the now ubiquitous tree bumblebees