Mitey Bee

This is, I think, a female Red-tailed cuckoo bumblebee Bombus rupestris Identifiable by her very dark wings and red bum.

She is huge and ever so slightly blurry, but look closely and you will see that she is infested with little yellow-ish bumblebee mites.
These did not seem to be affecting her and she flew away strongly after taking pollen from my night scented stocks.

It is thought by some that the mites may be of some benefit to the bees, eating moulds and detritus in the nest, others, however think that they may be carriers of harmful micro-0rganisms .

Isn't nature incredible?