Buzzing About Bees

RSPB Mersehead Blog 31^st August – 6^th September 2024

Bumblebees are colourful, hairy insects that play a vital role in the pollination of crops, flowers, and fruits. Well known for their ‘bumbling’ flight, bumblebees are widely recognised for the loud buzzing noise they make. Unsurprisingly, this is where their scientific name 'Bombus' originates from, translating to ‘booming’.

A staggering 270 species of bumblebee are found across the world, 24 of which live in the UK. Bumblebees are absent during the winter months and appear again in early spring. Following a period of hibernation over the winter period, queen bees emerge to find a suitable nest site, such as a disused rodent burrow. Next, the queens lay their eggs, carefully incubating them with heat generated from their wings to keep the eggs warm. After 2 - 3 weeks, the eggs hatch into larvae that develop into worker bees. Queen bees continue to lay eggs throughout the summer, until they finish by laying both unfertilised eggs that develop into males and fertilised eggs that become new queens. These males and new queens leave the nest to mate before both the males and workers die off, and the new queens hibernate over the winter, enabling the cycle to continue. 

From March to September at Mersehead, we carry out monthly bumblebee surveys on behalf of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. During these surveys a transect route, containing several habitat types, is followed. Bees 2m either side of the transect and 4m ahead are recorded. Where possible, both the species and the caste (queen, worker, male) of the bumblebee are noted and the flower it has landed on is recorded where applicable.  

Until I started carrying out these surveys, I'd always pictured bumblebees as always being black and yellow in colour. Getting involved with survey work opened my eyes to the diverse range of colours in the world of bumblebees, ranging from red tails to fully toffee-coloured fuzzy bees! Bumblebees fall into three main categories: red-tailed, white-tailed, and ginger-yellow bumblebees. If you are interested in getting better at bee ID, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust has great resources online including various identification guides. This is a great starting point if you're interested in learning more about bumblebees! 

White-tailed bumblebees

White-tailed bumblebee Bombus lucorum, adult nectaring on heather, RSBB The Lodge Nature Reserve, Bedfordshirem, August. Photo credit: Ben Andrew.

White-tailed bumblebee Bombus lucorum, male. Photo credit: G. Chambers.

Garden bumblebee Bombus hortorum. Photo credit: G. Chambers.

Red-tailed bumblebees

Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius. Photo credit: G. Chambers.

Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius male. Photo credit: G. Chambers.

Early bumblebee Bombus pratorum male. Photo credit: G. Chambers.

Ginger-yellow bumblebees

Tree bumblebee Bombus hypnorum . Photo credit: G. Chambers.

Common Carder bee Bombus pascuorum. Photo credit: G. Chambers.

Freya Sanders, Assistant Warden

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