Red-tailed bumblebee ( Bombus lapidarius )

Another shot for 30 days wild.  Wandering round Kanyl's garden looking for weeds i.e. wildflowers I realised his Chives were alive with Bees.  The bees were Bumblebees.  At first, I wasn't sure whether they were Red-tailed Bumblebees or Red-tailed Cuckoo bees.  We are probably too far north for the cuckoo bees, so I have settled on Red-tailed bumblebees.

You won't be surprised to be told Red-tailed cuckoo bees choose Red-tailed Bumble bees as their host species.  They enter the nest and lay their eggs in the cells there.  This means they don't have to gather pollen etc to feed the young.