Last I managed to see six species of bumblebee in Sandy* and another one further afield in Bedfordshire**. This year I managed to spot eight in Sandy, all but one in the garden. I’m hoping to have lots more wild flowers in the garden this year so hope to attract the bees to go with them.
I’ve submitted all the following as records to Beewatch, which is also very useful in getting confirmation of IDs.
Bombus hortorum
The garden bumblebee, seen in the garden. This is the first one of these I’ve seen, despite them being very common.
Bombus hypnorum
The tree bumblebee. We in fact had two nests in our house and garden. The bee above is coming out of one they made in an old bird box in the garden. The birds never used it but these bees did. We had a second nest in the roof too.
Bombus lapidarius
The red-tailed bumblebee. Both in the garden.
Bombus pratorum
The early bumblebee, one of the smaller species. In the garden. They seem to like flatter flower heads, like on this senetti.
Bombus lucorum
White-tailed bumblebee. The queens and workers look practically identical to the buff-tailed bumblebee (B. terrestris) although the males are very much more yellow and quite striking. In the garden.
Bombus pascuorum
Common carder bee. In the garden.
Bombus terrestris
Buff-tailed bumblebee. The buff tail is more obvious in the queen especially just forward of the tail.
Bombus vestalis
The southern cuckoo bumblebee. It takes over nests of B. terrestris. Sadly not seen in the garden but the bee on the bramble flower was on a piece of waste ground next to a path a stone’s throw away. The one on clover was near the railway station.
* Bombus vestalis?, B. pratorum, B. terrestris, B. rupestris, B. hypnorum, B. pascuorum
** B. campestris?