BUFF-TAILED BUMBLE BEE
Lives in a variety of habitats in the countriside and in our gardens containing the flowers they need such as:
-Allium
-Geraniums
-Wild roses
-Beans
-Peas
Habitat
-Bluebell
-Cherry
-Hyacinth
-Plum
-Chives
Life Span
-
Queens- 1 year
-
Workers- a few months
-
Drones- a few weeks
Size
-
Queen- 2cm
-
Workers & Drones- 14-17mm
Appearance
Has a yellow band on the thorax behind the head and a second yellow band on the abdomen. They have a white 'tail' with a buff coloured line sepearating it from the black.
The queen is larger and has an all buff coloured tail which can look orangey.
The queen is very large compared to the drone and the tail appears slightly orange
The tail is white and you can see the buff coloured ring next to the black
The queen is very large compared to the drone and the tail appears slightly orange
(These are not my images)
In the early spring a new queen emerges from hibernation underground and she will start searching for a new nest site.
She will inspect possible sites by flying low in a zig zag pattern before choosing the best which may be an abandoned rodent burrow or building cavity for example.
Once she has found a nest she will feed on nectar from the flowers near by and lay her first batch of eggs in a wax structure she secretes.
She collects nectar in a wax pot to feed from while she incubates her eggs and when they hatch she brings back pollen and nectar to feed them until they grow and hatch after 2 weeks from their cucoons as female workers.
Facts
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Nests can have 100-600 bees
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They only produce a small amount of honey to feed themselves
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Bumble bees do not swarm like honeybees
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They do not loose their sting so can sting many times
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They are larger and hairier than honey bees so can emerge earlier in the year and come out in the cold
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Their feet leave a secent on the flower so another bee does not waste it's time landing on the flower that will have not much pollen or nectar left.
(These are not my images)
-Raspberries
-Tomatoes
-Sun flowers
-Apple
-Foxgloves
-Lavander
-Daffodil
-Sweet peas
These workers will then take over caring for the next batches of eggs and larvae, cleaning the nest and bringing back nectar and pollen to feed the other workers and larvae.
In mid-summer the queen will begin producing fertile females and male drones. The drones leave the nest to feed on nectar and do not come back, when the new queens leave aswell they will mate and the males die while the queens build up their fat reserves for hibernation.
By the end of summer the nest will begin dying off with the old queen as it gets colder and the new queens will hibernate until early spring where the cycle starts again.