![]() Now that I am learning to identify them, I am noticing look-a-likes, and some distinctly different bumblebees as well. I used to think that all the bumblebees in our yard were Common Eastern bumblebees. A Sting in the Tale, by Dave Goulson of the British Bumblebee Conservation Trust, has been my favourite book for learning about the bumblebees and their life cycle (at Ottawa Public Library). Perhaps their differing tongue lengths and body sizes allow them to visit a greater diversity of flowers. Some small workers join their larger sisters in foraging duties outside the nest. The smallest bumblebee workers live and work in their dark nest for their whole lives tending to their mother and siblings. Size isn’t an indicator of whether a bumblebee is male or a worker because bumblebee workers vary dramatically in size. Visit the Xerces Society Bumblebee identification for more information. Of course, to the trained eye, there are more scientific ways to tell if a bumblebee is a male or a worker: females have pollen baskets (shiny segments with long hairs) on their back legs males have longer antennae (13 segments, while females have only 12) males have 7 bands across their abdomen instead of just 6 and males have no stingers. I’ll give him a break though because he may have been too cool to be active. This lazy-bones was still sleeping at 8:00 am. ![]() The Garden Bumblebee is one of the common ‘Big Seven’ bumblebees in Britain.A male bumblebee sleeping under a Joe Pye weed flower. Last year, the North East Bee Hunt received 130 records of this bumblebee, stretching from Holy Island to the North Pennines. The Garden Bumblebee is considered a common and widespread bumblebee in the North East. More information on the Garden Bumblebee can be found here Regional Distribution In flight, the tongue is often held outstretched as the bee approaches a flower. This means that you will find this bumblebee on deep, tubular flowers such as Clovers, Vetches and Foxgloves. Paired with its long face, the Garden Bumblebee has the longest tongue of any bumblebee. The Garden Bumblebee nests underground, typically old rodents burrows, and nests can contain up to 150 workers. However, the Heath Bumblebee has a very short face, and is smaller and fluffier. The Heath Bumblebee ( Bombus jonellus) also has a white tail and a double midriff band.
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