Common Eastern Bumblebee

Saw lots of these on a recent trip to Nova Scotia - stunning little things. It is a Common Eastern Bumblebee or Bombus impatiens to give it is proper name:

Cuckoo bees dominate...

On a recent visit to Lambert's Castle near Axminster, Andy Grinter and myself found a large number of cuckoo bumblebee species nectaring on bramble flowers. Six species of bumblebee were present but numbers were dominated by:

Bombus campestris: R. Harris

Bombus campestris: R. Harris

Bombus vestalis: R. Harris

Bombus terrestris (not a cuckoo species): R. Harris

 Bombus hypnorum was also noted in small numbers.

Bombus in the garden...

Well, my father's actually. He has an incredible border of geraniums, which are covered in bumblebees - 5 species present last night when I went to visit, including Bombus hypnorum:

Bombus pratorum: R. Harris

Bombus hypnorum: R. Harris

B. hypnorum: R. Harris

B. lapidarius: R. Harris

B. pascuorum: R. Harris

B. Terrestris: R. Harris

B. Terrestris: R. Harris

Bombus hypnorum...

Bombus hypnorum still turning up everywhere at the moment. Couple of great photos taken by Dave Helliar in his back garden in Chard, Somerset:

Bombus hypnorum: Dave Hellair