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Fat round bees with white bums

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
edited June 2019 in Wildlife gardening
Are they bumble bees?
There seems to be an awful lot of them in my garden. I didn't think they were so sociable.


this is the best picture I could manage.
In London. Keen but lazy.
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Posts

  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    Could be tree bumblebees

    https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/white-tailed-bumblebees/tree-bumblebee/
    Rutland, England
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Too many to name at the moment but I love the bombus bit💣
    Are they wild bees? @Muddle-Up
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    The ventral view looks like he has a Halloween mask on!
    Will read link properly later.  thanks @Muddle-Up
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    It's a bee and it has a white-ish tail. That's about all you can tell from that pic sorry. There's a few bumblebees that fit the MO but also a few cuckoo bees that closely mimic the bumblebees. For a better ID you need top and side pics of the stripe pattern and a good closeup of the rear legs. Then you might also need a close up of the face from the front and to be really certain you might have to resort to DNA testing. The white tailed bees are a tricky bunch.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    That's him😱
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    @wild edges. They're bees. I'm not impolite enough to enquire into the  family history of my guests but I would be interested to know whether they were likely to be farmed or someone locally has a hive.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    They're likely to be wild but a few bumblebees (assuming it is a bumblebee) are farmed for science or pollination reasons.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    Picidae said:
    Could be tree bumblebees

    https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/white-tailed-bumblebees/tree-bumblebee/
    @b3

    we have them all over the garden every year except last year, and I believe they are indeed tree bumblebees.

    Ours are loving the cotoneaster at the moment.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Mine are particularly interested in penstemon sour grapes or anything blue. Elderberry in full blossom is being completely ignored.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Definitely not tree bumblebees.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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