The luxuriously black, velvety thorax and abdomen, finished with a deep orange-red tail make the red tailed bumblebee a wonderful insect to see. This is the second queen of this species I have spotted in the garden, but the first was far too fast too photograph. This individual seemed content to sit on the sunny fence to have a spruce up, diligently cleaning her antennae as pictured.
Queens of this species are partial to gorses, dandelions and various Prunus species, amongst others, whereas workers love, for example, clover, birds-foot trefoils and St John's wort. Another reason to let lawns flourish with dandelions and clovers.
We do have an abandoned mouse nest in the 'lawn', and as this is a ground nesting species who often use old burrows, I wonder whether we will be lucky enough for a queen to decide that our little garden is the place for her to nest? If so, the colonies can grow to contain 300 workers!
References:
Falk, S. (2015) Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
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