The First Bumblebutts Of The Year

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I have seen my first two bumblebees of the year – the first was a Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) at the allotment, basking on a shed door. I think she is a year-old queen, as she has a bare patch on her back where the ginger hairs have rubbed off. Tree bumbles are a relatively new addition to the UK, having first been recorded in about 2001. They like to nest in bird boxes, though last year an allotment neighbour had a nest in a plastic compost bin which had a mouse/rat hole in the front.

The second bee, at first glance I thought was a Red-Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius), but then I noticed yellow stripes (queen or female worker red-tails don’t have yellow stripes). I then thought maybe she was a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), and put her on Twitter and Instagram labelled as such. However, a man (who is a bumblebutt expert) named Paul at the Natural History Museum then suggested that maybe she is an Early Bumblebee, Bombus pratorum. Of course, now that I have read the name and looked in both of my bee books, I can clearly see it is more likely to be an Early Bumble. 

So now that an expert has told me and I’ve triple checked, I am more sure that she was in fact an Early Bumble, which doesn’t make me feel too bad about her being awake too early. Here she is, massively enjoying a small clump of crocus at Bumble Hole (coincidence, no?) Nature Reserve. You can see why I was confused though - she is so covered in pollen it is hard to see her stripes (or her butt!).

On this pic you can just see a gingery orange tinge to her bum.

I call them bumblebutts as you often need to see the tail (butt) to identify bees. The vividness of the yellow stripes, the spacing of them, and the colours of the tails tell you which type of Bombus you are looking at.

To encourage bumblebutts into your garden make sure the queens can find somewhere to nest. They will be waking up from hibernation over the next month or so, and will start flying low, zig-zagging across the floor to investigate suitable holes. They like old mouse holes. You can use some 6” sections of 4” soil pipe capped off at both ends, with a small access hole and an air vent hole / small air vents along the top. Any holes the bees don’t want, they will block off. Put some moss, grass cuttings or dried soft vegetation in it to make it a bit more homely. You can also do the upturned plant pot method (below). A terracotta plant pot, length of flexible hose, and a tile to stop rain getting in.

From: www.bumblebeeconservation.org/bumblebee-nests

Place the nests where there is food – spring bulbs, a flower bed, near fruit bushes etc. A queen bee does the initial forage to get enough food for her first brood and it drains her energy so she needs a lot of food nearby to keep her going. If you have badgers in the garden (yay!!) make sure you badger-proof the bee nest, as badgers love eating bee nests. If you use 4” soil pipe, maybe try burying it 6” down with access tubes up to ground level.

Tree bumbles like bird boxes or holes in trees. Red-tailed bumbles LOVE chive flowers. Common Carder Bees absolutely covered my allotment comfrey last year. Buff-tails seem to love teasels. A few years ago a volunteer I worked with at Moseley Bog Nature Reserve found a Common Carder Bee nest in some long grass; they were just below the surface. We sat and watched them work to recover and repair the nest for a while - incredibly fascinating!

You can learn more about bumblebutts over at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust website.

These two pics show the Common Carder Bee nest at Moseley Bog. I had never seen a bumble nest! I didn't know they made little cups; it is very different to a honeybee nest.

These bees had made a nest in a wooden doorframe. Not sure they appreciated flash photography into their little eyes, but it was really interesting to watch them come and go.