A short life

Sadly, after surviving one of the coldest winters on record this Buff Tailed Bumblebee, Bombus Terrestris, sadly didn't make it to creating her own nest.

Found by the eagle eyes of my daughter on our first BeeWalk of the year, this specimen was found on an old pathway, so ther's every chance it was simply trodden on by one of the many dog walkers. However, its body was in good condition so perhaps it was a case of starvation, as not many of the nectar giving plants have even started to grow on Lowestoft North Denes.

Hopefully we won't find too many more like this one.

Sadly, this one didn't make it.

2013 Bumblebees begin!

Finally, after a long, cold winter the spring and warmer weather finally encouraged our bumblebee species to emerge to start the search for this years nesting sites.

Having done a couple of bee walks already and seen mostly Buff Tailed, bombus terrestris as they are usually first to emerge. I had seen one Queen Common Carder, bombus pascuorum at Carlton Marshes.

I finally saw my first Red Tailed Bumblebee, bombus lapidarius which looked as if it had been collecting pollen, hopefully for the feeding of the first female worker bees.

As the days pass now, there will be more and more Queen bumblebees on the wing so keep your eyes peeled!

Red Tailed Bumblebee taking a rest

Sleeping a bit

Now that the colder winter months are here there is very little Bumblebee activity. However, if anyone has any sightings (and its not impossible) then please contact me with them :)

Happy Christmas to all!

Male White Tailed

Another look around Lowestoft North Denes didn't produce so much today as most of the food plants have finished flowering, leaving the bees to search elsewhere.

The standout bee was a male White Tailed bumblebee, Bombus lucorum, feeding on ragwort.

Ragwort gets a lot of bad press, but in my opinion its a bit of a life giver to many species.

Male White Tailed Bumblebee on Ragwort

Slow-mo White Tailed!

A friend of mine took the time to shoot this on 210 fps (frames per second) using a Casio Exilim.

Its an incredible slow look at how a White Tailed bumblebee, Bombus lucorum, navigtes a head of lavender.

The wing beats really amaze me. Thanks for the video Daniel!

Cracking Common carder!

Looking round my back garden this afternoon I found a Buff Tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris feeding on my buddleia.

More excitingly for me though were 5 Common carder bees, Bombus pascuorum, feeding on lupin, blackberry and sweet mallow.

Although they have probably been present for longer than today, it takes my garden species to 6.



Common carder Bee & Lupin



Buff Tailed on Buddleia!

Walking around Minsmere RSPB reserve today threw up a few nice Bumblebees.

The stand out was a large Buff tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, probably a male again. Its low droning buzz as if flew from flower to flower was a lovely sound.

Probable male Buff Tailed feeding on buddleia