We have a bumblebee nest in our compost bin. I first noticed them a month ago when the first few workers started coming and going.
We have a bumblebee nest in our compost bin. I first noticed a month ago when the first few workers started coming and going. Now we have a steady stream. The bees are buff-tailed, Bombus terrestris, one of our commonest species.
I've told the family not to worry. Unlike honeybees and wasps, bumblebees are very docile and not prone to attack even if you stand right in front of the nest entrance. Having said that, four-year-old picked up what he thought was a dead one on the path nearby and it promptly stung him. Not surprisingly, there were lots of tears.
I'm not sure if it was one from the nest, or elsewhere. We seem to have bumblebee heaven just outside the back door - the chive flowers are weighed down with them. Not only do we have this deliciously savoury plant in the beds, it also grows very well in cracks in the old concrete path.
Later, while I'm admiring the constant nectaring business, I see there are several species. The red-tailed, Bombus lapidarius, is there in numbers, as too is the white-tailed, Bombus lucorum. Then suddenly there is another colour-way to catch my eye.
I'm not sure Bombus hypnorum has an English name yet, it only arrived in Britain in 2001, in the village of Landford on the fringes of the New Forest. It has since spread widely. I first found it at Crystal Palace in 2005, and now, there it is. Just the singleton was in the garden, but later the same day there were dozens visiting the raspberry flowers up at the allotment.
B. hypnorum is handsome and unmistakable. The thorax is all over bright orange, the abdomen is jet black with clear white tail. No other British bumble has this coloration.
I try and explain all this to the boy, but he eyes them all with suspicion now.
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