Bombus Pascuorum

A rare quiet day at home today. I usually see my sister on Wednesdays, but she has been very poorly with, we think, some form of virus and needs to rest at the moment.

I’ve mostly been trying to catch up on reading the novel for discussion at the Tiptree book club next Monday, but still have a lot to get through. Just a brief foray out of the house this afternoon to fill up with petrol, post a couple of cards and pick up a prescription. Once again, the garden has not let me down in providing a blip. I find that, if I stand still and look and listen for a while, something interesting comes to my attention from nature. This is a Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum). These beautiful little bees are the only UK species with all-brown colouring and no white tail. They range from ginger to a pale, sandy brown, depending on how sun-bleached they are. Common carder bees are found everywhere from arable land to urban gardens. They have the longest flight period of any of our bumblebees and likely have two generations per year.

Habitat: woodlands, gardens, parks, orchards, meadows.
Favourite plants: willow, ivy, lavender, dandelion, clover, thyme.
When to see: March–September.

Source www.woodlandtrust.org.uk