Species: Buff-tailed Bumblebee or Large Earth Bumble-bee (Bombus terrestris)
Family: Bumble and Honey Bees (APIDAE)
Category: Insects (Other)
Location: NW
A. Insects (Other)
More extensive information on insects can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Bumble and Honey Bees (APIDAE)
The honey and bumble bees are social insects, whereas all other bees are solitary. Bumble Bees live in small colonies, often underground but they can be in dense terrestrial vegetation. Most of those seen in Spring and early Summer will be females, males appearing in late Summer. They have long antennae. There are 17-24 species of Bumble Bee depending on which entomologist is compiling the classification.
In former times, hives and bees were traditionally acquired by barter, or for gold or silver, for to exchange for cash was considered an unlucky transaction. It was considered bad luck to carry a hive across flowing water. Bees are said to be fussy about who manages them and will not produce honey for someone ill-behaved or of criminal tendencies, nor for someone quarrelsome or foul-mouthed. If bees suddenly quit a hive then death or ill-luck will visit the owner's house. If a bee owner dies the hives must be turned. If a funeral cortège passes, hives must be lifted until it has gone from view. For all significant family news the hives are tapped and the news whispered to the bees, or the bees may leave in disgust, or misfortune may strike. At weddings or birthdays a piece of cake is given to the bees; at funerals black crêpe is wrapped round the hives. A swarm of bees settling on a dead tree is a portent of death.
Note that various mason bees and mining bees have also been found in the Cemetery.
C. Buff-tailed Bumblebee or Large Earth Bumble-bee (Bombus terrestris)
The collar and 2nd abdominal segment are deep yellow or orange, the 'tail' being buff or white. A pale-coloured individual can be confused with the White-tailed Bumble Bee.
Buff-tailed Bumblebees are susceptible to having their nest taken over by the Vestal Cuckoo Bumblebee. These aptly-named bumblebees which, unlike most bees, have no pollen baskets on their legs, feed on flowers without gathering pollen in the knowledge that female Vestals will be able to invade nests of Buff-tailed Bumblebees, infiltrating the colony, subduing or killing the queen, laying their own eggs and then requiring the Buff-tailed workers to feed them.
Images
Buff-tailed Bumblebee
This is not the best photograph of a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, but a diagnostic one!
Buff-tailed Bumblebee
This Buff-tailed Bumblebee was photographed in Heene Cemetery in mid-December.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee
A Buff-tailed Bumblebee with mites in mid-March.
According to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, most bumblebees have tiny mites that cling to their bodies. They say that "most of the mite species that live with bumblebees are fairly harmless to them and are simply clinging to the bumblebee so that they can be transported to new nests". However, they also say that "mites may present a problem if an individual bumblebee becomes so heavily infested that it is unable to fly because of the weight of the mites". They add that there are other mites that live in the tracheal system of queen bumblebees, although it's perhaps not likely that this is the case with the bee in this photograph.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee
A Buff-tailed Bumblebee trying to rid itself of mites.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee
Buff-tailed Bumblebee with mites in June 2022.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee
The collar and 2nd abdominal segment are deep yellow or orange, the 'tail' being buff or white. A pale-coloured individual can be confused with the White-tailed Bumble Bee.
