A DELIGHTFUL DISCOVERY

| gaiainaction

A bumblebee that was sitting on the bathroom window, not moving. I grabbed my camera to take some shots and then got out the honeypot and as soon as I touched the surrounding area of this beautiful insect it put out its proboscis and started to suck the honey with gusto, lovely to see this. It gave me another chance to take photos. I see this little bumblebee type in the garden a everyday, feeding or at least looking for nectar on the flowers of the large comfrey bush. They are very small in comparison to other bumblebees and move fast, never been able to take a photos until now. Just found out something else interesting, from observation, they do not go into the comfrey flowers, rather they bore a little hole in the tip of the flower petals and suck that way (I guess). I’d love to have a proper identification. I’ve looked at all sort of websites without any luck. Now I came across a blog post of a fellow blogger that looks very interesting, it is at https://standingoutinmyfield.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/cheat-guide-to-the-irish-bumblebees/
Could it be a young male B.Lapidarius I wonder?  And no it is not!  I have since learnt from a very reliable source, one of my fellow bloggers who is an ecologist, see her blog at https://murtaghsmeadow.wordpress.com/ that our little bumblebee is a bombus pratorum, or early bumblebee worker.  It is not a male because males do not collect pollen and in the photo we can see lots of pollen on its legs.  Only the queens and the workers collect pollen, the males do visit the flowers for nectar though (Murtagh’s Meadow).
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Just adding two more photos of other bumblebees from the garden.

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This one is also small but it has two bands of yellow and a white bum, so different from the previous bumblebee.

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And this is a large one orange top, a lovely one.  Must get better photos though.

I would also like to pass on recommended reading:  Dave Goulson’s book – A sting in the tale –

32 thoughts on “A DELIGHTFUL DISCOVERY”

  3. From your photos i would say it a Bombus pratorum or Early bumblebee worker. I don’t think it is a male because it looks like it is carrying some pollen in its pollen baskets. And Early bumblebee workers are very small as you describe. They love the comprey in my garden too and as you say they will ‘rob’ the nectar from the side of the flower. Well done for saving the little fellow.

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    Reply

      1. No only the queens and workers will collect pollen, but the males will visit flowers too for nectar.

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      7. I’m learning too Jodie, I did not know males do not collect pollen, was not sure at all if this was a male. It is good to receive an identification, now I can look up more 🙂

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      1. I especially loved ” The Bees ” by Laline Paull. It’s a novel, but it’s written from the point of view of a bee in a colony. It gave a non-farmer like me a better understanding, and it made me want to be a better steward of nature on my own little piece of this Earth.

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