Huge bumble bee

[kazmcc]

Walking back from hospital today, I saw a huge bumble bee - bigger than anything I've seen before - squashed on the road. My question is this.....Could it have been an unfortunate queen? Would they be outside of the colony at this time of year? It really was big

 

[Chris Luck]

If it was a bumble bee it could only have been a "Queen" at this time of year because it is only the new queens, hopefully fertilised, that overwinter, (hibernate if you like) and then try to find somewhere to make a new colony for this year. All the blokes die in the Autumn.

Chris

 

[greatbritishhoney]

I've got limited knowledge of bumblebees but as far as I know it is only the queen that overwinters (the rest of the colony dies off), so any around at this time of year woudl certainly be queens.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

If it was a bumble bee it could only have been a "Queen" at this time of year because it is only the new queens, hopefully fertilised, that overwinter, (hibernate if you like) and then try to find somewhere to make a new colony for this year. All the blokes die in the Autumn.

Chris

Great minds think alike!

 

[kazmcc]

Thank you both for the information. I thought it might have been as it was so big! What a shame. I really should find out more about the different types of bees. We are hoping to attract solitary bees to the Bee Garden, but due to illness I haven't really been on top of things.

Thanks again

 

[Chris Luck]

We are hoping to attract solitary bees to the Bee Garden,

Please, please do. Many of the Bumble bee and solitary bee species are having a hard time with the rarer ones effectively already extinct in many regions.

Here in our "garden" everything is managed for maximum bio-diversity and we must have over 100 different species of Solitary bee. Sadly not so good on the Bumble bee front with only the six common species actually recorded so far.

It's the same for the Solitary wasp species with people spraying pesticides into their lawns.

Chris

 

[newportbuzz]

if you bury a 2 lr coke bottle with a bit of hosepipe in the spout in the ground they sometimes use them as nests. bury it that the bottle doesnt fill up with water and they want around 2-4 ft of hose to feel comfy
if you can find a mouse nest it acts as a lure for the queens same as brood comb does for our swarms
another way of homing them is an upturned flowerpot buried with a hosepipe as an entrance.

 

[Skyhook]

Walking back from hospital today, I saw a huge bumble bee - bigger than anything I've seen before - squashed on the road.

Are you sure it was big? Or just really wide?

 

[kazmcc]

Are you sure it was big? Or just really wide?

LOL

It was both big and wide! Hee hee, but really, although squished, it was very big.

Thank you for the tips for attracting bees. I will certainly raise these ideas at the next meeting ( if it ever happens ) CL, I keep bees for my childrens school, and we have developed a garden on the allotments next to the school site. I am completely new to all this, only getting the bees in July last year, and I'm being mentored through my first year. I do this voluntarily and have been asked if I could also find out about attracting other insects. Due to illness I've not been as active as I'd like lately, but I'm now on the mend, so any other ideas would be very welcome. We were given a board with terracota plant pots pinned onto it. We were told it was an insect hotel, but given no further information ( check my album pics if my description isn't clear ) I was thinking maybe letting the children collect things to pack into the pots. Someone suggested a mouse nest, but we are in the city and these things are not easy to come by here. The obvious bamboo canes will be used when I get back into taking the children there, but I have no further ideas.

 

[newportbuzz]

LOL
Someone suggested a mouse nest, but we are in the city and these things are not easy to come by here. The obvious bamboo canes will be used when I get back into taking the children there, but I have no further ideas.

go to the local pet shop and ask for the old mouse bedding
its the smell that attracts the bumble.
wash your hands well after handling or use gloves (ps it stinks but seeing the bumbles going in and out of the little hose is worth it)

 

[kazmcc]

go to the local pet shop and ask for the old mouse bedding
its the smell that attracts the bumble.
wash your hands well after handling or use gloves (ps it stinks but seeing the bumbles going in and out of the little hose is worth it)

Great idea! Thank you. I didn't know that it's the smell that attracts them! I wouldn't have thought of asking at a pet shop either I certainly will next time I pass.

 

[Gardenbees]

sounds like you're an ideal candidate for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust's nestbox research:
http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/nest_boxes.htm

You and the kids could have fun trying out the different types!
(I'm always surprised at just how large a space they require for a good nest).
The mouse bedding thing is a good idea too.

My garden bumblebees (5 species so far) seem to have survived the winter and are emerging from their various nests this week, trundling through the air and knocking my crocuses about....

 

[kazmcc]

sounds like you're an ideal candidate for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust's nestbox research:
http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/nest_boxes.htm

You and the kids could have fun trying out the different types!
(I'm always surprised at just how large a space they require for a good nest).
The mouse bedding thing is a good idea too.

My garden bumblebees (5 species so far) seem to have survived the winter and are emerging from their various nests this week, trundling through the air and knocking my crocuses about....

That looks really interesting. I will pass this on to the teacher I liase with. It would be great for the kids, and maybe tie in with something they are doing in class. I know the staff had an INSET day where Paul came down and spoke about bringing bees into all aspects of the curriculum, so this would tie in perfectly.

 

[Chris Luck]

This web site is quite good for basics..

http://www.insectpix.net/

Chris

Edit.
My garden bumblebees (5 species so far) seem to have survived the winter and are emerging from their various nests this week, trundling through the air and knocking my crocuses about....

Which 5 do you have?

 

[kazmcc]

Thanks Chris, that's a lovely site.

I think that quote belongs to gardenbees, I wouldn't be able to identify the different species unless they were very distinctive from each other. A whole new world of bees for me to explore! I am already a bee bore, I suspect I am about to get worse

 

[Poly Hive]

As my first wife used to say with a sigh, "If bumbles were honey bees it would be so easy." Meaning the PR aspect.

PH

 

[Gardenbees]

Which 5 do you have?

The crocus-trashing ones are Bombus lucorum White-tailed bumblebee, and B. terrestris Buff-tailed bumblebee. The buff-tails are more common in my garden. Both nest under the decking and behind the bricks that surround the base of the shed. They are similar-looking: you have to look at the colours and stripes quite carefully, which is easy when they're not moving about! The buff-tail queens are really big and cuddly and more evident at the moment.

Others were quite common over the spring and summer:
Large red-tailed bumblebee B. lapidarius
Early bumblebee B. pratorum (which also has a reddish tail, but has rather different stripes and is smaller)
Small garden bumblebee B. hortorum

I also had a couple of fuzzy cuckoo-bee types which I must admit I didn't identify. They look blacker, and slightly less velvety, but otherwise very bumble-like.

No sign of the newcomer Bombus hypnorum, the tree bumblebee, at least not yet, although Gloucestershire is probably next on their list! I have spotted a couple of incoming hoverflies though - the really big ones that were discussed here: http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6786&highlight=hoverflies

The Natural History Museum has a nice bee identification section on their website: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/bombus/key_british_colour.html

 

[Chris Luck]

What sort of habitat do you have GB? and what are the surroundings? Do you not have the Common Carder Bumblebee B. pascuorum there? That may be a daft question because I have to admit I'm not really clued up on the UK anymore, (it's been a long time).

Only this fellow so far this year in the hoverfly dept, and not a good photo.

Chris

 

[Liam C Ryan]

Can you explain the 2 hose to 4ft of hose in the coke bottle, is the hose left lying on the ground.
Regards
Liam C

 

[Liam C Ryan]

I was out over the last few days with my camera trying to get a photo of bees collecting pollen and saw on a couple of occasions very large bumble bees on heather and on an early flowering shrub near the house.