Sunday 3 April 2016

Tree Bumblebee


The queen Tree Bumblebees have made their appearance right on cue, said to be one of the first  Bumblebees to be seen in early spring, although in truth I believe the Buff Tailed Bumblebee can probably claim that title especially here in the south of the country.

These Tree Bumblebees are certainly becoming more common around the garden, now I am not sure if this is just a few individuals or many visiting the garden.

They are quite easy to identify with  chestnut brown thorax, black abdomen and white tails, the queens, workers and drones are all of a similar colour,  the queens are probably of a similar size to the Buff tailed Bumblebee, maybe slightly smaller, the drones and workers are quite small with the drones being of a slightly more chunky appearance than the workers.

Unlike the Buff Tailed and White tailed which nest in the ground, these like to find a suitable nesting site above ground, sometimes in old bird nesting boxes,  I am yet to find a nest site.

Tree Bumblebee queen






Always nice to see them visiting the garden, and once again mainly on the flowering blackcurrant
.

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