Tree bumblebee

A day of recovery when nothing much got done! Thanks for all the lovely comments about yesterdays Jubilee portrait. I should perhaps clarify that only one of the two young men is my son (Alex, with the painted fingernails). The other one is a close friend of our family, who's actually six years older than Alex! He and Alex often get mistaken for brothers...I think it's the combination of dark hair, dimples and beautiful smiles that make them look so similar! You can see a photo of Pete, Chris and Alex here, along with their friend, and judge the various likenesses for yourselves...

Today my blip comes from the back garden again. This is an image of the tree bumblebee Bombus hypnorum, which was first recorded in Britain in 2001. It has very characteristic markings, with a gingery thorax and a white tail, and can't really be mistaken for any other species of bee. The following article from the Daily Telegraph describes its spread:

"Several bumblebees are found in Europe, but not in Britain, and one that many naturalists always thought "should" be here is the tree bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum. The tree bumblebee is found throughout much of Europe, as far north as the Arctic Circle. It also seems to like gardens, and has generally become more abundant during the 20th century. So there was no great surprise among the bee cognoscenti when a specimen was captured on the northern edge of the New Forest in 2001. Because bumblebees are social - that is, they live in colonies - if you find one bumblebee there are inevitably plenty more somewhere nearby.

Since 2001, the tree bumblebee has spread rapidly, with the first records from Wales in 2009.... There seems no reason why it shouldn't eventually colonise the whole country, but it isn't everywhere yet. I looked for it on the south coast of Devon in June last year, and didn't see any.

British bumblebees generally nest in holes in the ground, or on the surface in tussocky grassland. The tree bumblebee, as its name suggests, nests in holes in trees and is particularly fond of nest boxes provided for birds. These nesting habits are so different from any native bee that there is no reason to expect it to compete with them. Like all bumblebees, B. hypnorum is a useful pollinator and completely harmless as long as you leave it alone."


This species has been present in our garden in Peterborough for the last two years, but for the first time we seem to have a nest amongst logs at the base of our willow tree. I certainly think it's a very welcome and handsome addition to the British fauna.