World Bee Day

Honey bees make honey from pollen and nectar collected from flowers. They live in large colonies with one queen. In the wild, honey bees nest in hollow trees. They have a slim, sandy thorax and a black abdomen with golden-amber bands

There are 24 species of Bumble bees in the UK with a wide variety of size and colour. The three most common are the garden bumble, the white tailed bumble bee, and the tree bee.

Garden bumble bee (Bombus hortorum)- All three types, the queen, worker and male are similar, with a yellow-black-yellow thorax, a yellow band at the base of the abdomen, and a pure white tail.

White-tailed bumble bee (Bombus lucorum)- The bee has a lemon-yellow collar at the front of the thorax and another bright yellow band in the middle of the abdomen, with a pure white tail. Males have bright yellow facial hairs and are often more yellow in the thorax.

Tree bumble bee (Bombus hypnorum)- The thorax is ginger to reddish brown but can be darker in some individuals.  The abdomen is black and the tail is white.

Two of our most common garden solitary bees are the red mason bee and the leafcutter bee. Solitary bees do not produce honey or have queens to defend and are very peaceful creatures. While some of the females do possess stings they will not use them unless trapped or threatened.

Red mason bee (Osmia rufa) is a small bee covered in dense ginger hair. The males have a white tuft of hair on the face.

Leafcutter bee (Megachile centuncularis) looks like a honey bee with an orange abdomen