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Post by NellyDee on Mar 26, 2019 9:27:32 GMT
Concidering the very bad weather we have been having, I was very surprised to see a very bedraggled Buff-tailed Bumble bee on the heather. Which by the way has come into bloom early.
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Post by NellyDee on Apr 19, 2019 15:50:44 GMT
Today three large Buff-tailed Bumble bees (female) not feeding but looking for a place to nest presumable, going into holes in the stone walls and Under or in holes the large pieces of drifwood I have dotted about the garden.
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Post by NellyDee on Apr 29, 2019 15:57:23 GMT
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Post by Cotham Marble on Apr 29, 2019 18:00:37 GMT
Are the photo colours true to life ? - orange yellow collar, white tail and no colouration change in the black ground between the two ? Then perhaps one of the Cuckoo Bees, there doesn't seem to be a pollen sack on the exposed side which would be diagnostic, at least in part. But you are NW Scotland ? - then possibly Broken Belted Bumblebee with a colour variation meaning the yellow 'belt' on the abdomen' is missing. With the exception of the Tree Bumble Bee, Bumbles with white tails can be quite tricky to separate into species and without being able to key out all the features with a close all round view I wouldn't be at all confident being any more definite.
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Post by NellyDee on Apr 30, 2019 13:55:29 GMT
Yes the colours are true - is this a bettr photo. I was a bit puzzled by the orange on the underside and could not make out if it was pollen or not, but it did seem to move with the bumblebee. It did seem to be very busy moving petals back and pushing its head deep. All sorts of ideas came into my head, was it storeing the pollen to came back later, was it gathering the pollen all in one place to move later etc. DSCF4619 by Helen Skelton, on Flickr
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Post by Cotham Marble on Apr 30, 2019 17:20:47 GMT
At the limit of my knowledge I'm afraid - some of the orange could be an infestation of mites which the bee might be using the flower to dislodge. I'm not sure that I see any pollen sacks as such and I can't explain what is going on with any certainty. If pushed I'd go for Forest Cuckoo Bee female but with very low confidence. BWARS photos here: www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/sets/72157631614916795/
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Post by NellyDee on May 1, 2019 8:19:43 GMT
Thank you CM, gosh it certainly looks like it. I will have to go out and try and get more photos, unfortunately the weather has gone back to cold and rainy. I have seen another couple of these and I am surrounded by forest and woodland so could well be.
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Post by NellyDee on May 2, 2019 14:15:11 GMT
Went out to try and catch more of the Forest Buumble Bee, quite a few, but would not stay still, however I seem to have a number of different bumblebees - not good photos, but I think Red-tailed, Carder and Buff(white tailed) there is another but again could not get photo. Apart from being delight that the bumblebees are back here, what is concerning me is most is tne ones that are moving about the least seem to be covered in lice.I have also seen two fall off the flower to the ground. DSCF4648 by Helen Skelton, on Flickr DSCF4659 by Helen Skelton, on Flickr DSCF4657 by Helen Skelton, on Flickr
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Post by aeshna5 on May 2, 2019 16:50:58 GMT
The top is a Bilberry Bumblebee, Bombus monticola- a special bee found up your way. Only male Red-tailed have any yellow on the thorax + even down here they won't be around yet a while.
Second isn't a bumblebee at all, though superficially resembles one- it's a male Hairy-footed Flower Bee, Anthophora plumipes, which is very partial to plants like comfrey as in your photo + Pulmonarias , etc. A common one in my garden. The females which appear later are black. Move faster than bumblebees with a higher pitched whine.
The last is probably a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, B. terrestris.
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Post by ianr on May 3, 2019 7:38:26 GMT
How much later do the female hairy footed flower bees turn up aeshna5? I was in my garden the other week and my eyes and ears were drawn to a couple of very fast moving and loud bees, very dark too. I was unable to get a photo they were moving so fast, since then the weather has changed and were back to very few bees and butterflies about ian
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Post by aeshna5 on May 3, 2019 11:45:58 GMT
How much later do the female hairy footed flower bees turn up aeshna5? I was in my garden the other week and my eyes and ears were drawn to a couple of very fast moving and loud bees, very dark too. I was unable to get a photo they were moving so fast, since then the weather has changed and were back to very few bees and butterflies about ian I'm guessing in my garden I saw males a good 2 weeks before the first female. It's quite common for the first adult insects to emerge to be males, similar to first migrant birds as a generalisation. These bees can be quite common in gardens + will use bee boxes or holes in mortar to breed.
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Post by NellyDee on May 4, 2019 9:06:33 GMT
The top is a Bilberry Bumblebee, Bombus monticola- a special bee found up your way. Only male Red-tailed have any yellow on the thorax + even down here they won't be around yet a while. Second isn't a bumblebee at all, though superficially resembles one- it's a male Hairy-footed Flower Bee, Anthophora plumipes, which is very partial to plants like comfrey as in your photo + Pulmonarias , etc. A common one in my garden. The females which appear later are black. Move faster than bumblebees with a higher pitched whine. The last is probably a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, B. terrestris. Oh wow! Thank you so much. Not only am I delighted that I have a variety of Bumblebees and bees, but that there are any at all, after last year when I only saw the odd one here and there. Just a tad worried with our back to winter weather - got snow on the hills again.
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