On Saturday, after a morning in the garden, I was sitting having my lunch in the conservatory when a big bumblebee blundered in to the window (as they do!).
It then careered into a spider's web (their other party trick), which was clearly very much in use, its wide-awake owner excitedly quivering above the big bee, presumably waiting for the bee to tie itself in knots before moving in for the sting.
I decided that a dopey queen bee, just out of hibernation, deserved a mercy mission, so I went out and hooked it out of the web with a stick.
I was expecting to find a bee with yellow stripes and a buff or white coloured tail, so was surprised to see that it was actually all black except for a rich rufous back and white tail. Bumblebees can be difficult to identify, but this one is easy - the Tree Bee Bombus hypnorum.
She's a little bit bald and ruffled, but then she has been asleep for many months.
This is a bee that wasn't recorded in the UK until 2001, when it was found on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border. It took a few years to get properly established in that area, but then has just gone bananas over the last five years or so. It has now been seen across most counties of south-eastern, central and eastern England, is now into Wales, and there's no signs of it stopping either. Common on the Continent, there is every reason to believe that it arrived here naturally, and is a new but nevertheless valid part of our native fauna
It is an early season bee, so definitely one to watch out for right now. The queen will find a cavity above ground, such as a bird nest box, and raise her workers, with the colony at its peak by June.
At a time when the news about many of our bumblebees is bad, it's good to know that one is doing especially well.
I was thrilled to bits last year when I found a nest of totally black bees, and the bumblebee conservation people verified it for me. I'd never seen all black bees before.
haven,t seen any bees yet but there,s not many flowers either for them to feed on
Hi Sylvia
Did the bumblebee people tell you which sort of bee it was? There is no all-black bumblebee, so I presume it was maybe a Flower-bee (Anthophora). Where did you find the nest?
You're right, redrobin, it's scant pickings for bees unless we grow specific plants. Are you tempted to plant anything extra for them? My blog a couple of weeks ago (17 Feb) looked at some of the bushes you can grow, and the next blog I will do is going to look at crocuses.