*** Bumblebee sightings ***
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From the Lincolnshire recorder but of interest to all bee lovers!
With the increase in temperature, insects will become active and Bumblebees will be
some of the most noticeable. Bumblebee queens have been in hibernation since last
autumn and will soon be buzzing about seeking nectar to build up their energy reserves,
quartering the ground looking for nesting sites and then seeking pollen to feed their
first brood.Whilst it is often not possible to see any colour pattern on the buzzing silhouette, if you can get close enough to make an identification that would be very interesting.
The earliest Bumblebees are likely to be:
Bombus lucorum (yellow & black banded with a white tail)
Bombus terrestris (yellow & black banded with a buffish tail)
Bombus pratorum (yellow & black banded with an orange tail – and usually conspicuously smaller than the others)
Bombus lapidarius (black with a red tail)
Bombus hypnorum (brown and black with a white tail) could be about as well.If you do manage to get close enough to see the colour pattern, have a look for any pollen
on the back legs. The pollen is likely to be yellow and is easy to spot. If the bee is collecting
pollen, she must have established a nest and is gathering pollen to feed her young.Of course, if you can get a photo, so much the better and the Bee Group is waiting for you 🐝
My friends downstairs spotted an ailing one in GGHJ day before yesterday and revived it with sugary water they told me. Unfortunately I didn’t see it but wondered if it were one of those ground-dwelling buzzers.
I disturbed a bumble yesterday, Anne and it was really disoriented. I don’t know which bee it was. It didn’t want sugar water and it didn’t like where I put it either! I have some comfrey in flower and broke some off to tempt it and it actually fed on the little bunch of flowers. I went to get some more but it had gone when I got back. Hopefully it flew away to somewhere safer!
The first bumble flew past the conservatory yesterday. Lots of honey bees about. On mondaynI opened the door to the central heating boiler and there was a large wasp. I don’t know how it got there but as it is in the airing cupboard OH reckons it may have come in on a towel in the summer and overwintered there so could be a queen. I put it in a large eleagnus but don’t know if it will survive.
Cilla’s @cilla Bombus terrestris
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