| Common carder bumble bee - Bombus pascuorum - Family: Apidae
 Common carder bumble bee - Bombus pascuorum© Roger Key/English NatureThis is a gingery brown bee, often with numerous black hairs on the abdomen, but with no yellow markings on its rear end. It is widely distributed, and frequently found in gardens, although it is much less common in the countryside than formerly. It is a surface-nesting bumble bee which constructs its nest in cavities such as old mouse runs and among mats of moss in lawns. If a nest is disturbed, the workers quickly divide their labour by splitting into groups of builders, defenders and protectors. The builders spread out and form lines, using a combing action (hence the name) and pass materials from one to another, the last in line repairing the nest. The defenders buzz angrily around the source of the disturbance to act as a deterrent, whilst the protectors fan the nest with rapid wing beats to prevent the eggs from overheating. Nests can contain up to 200 workers. Only the young fertilised queen survives the winter, having hibernated in a protected place such as a hole or under moss. She emerges in spring, either starting up her own colony or taking over an existing one. The queen makes pots of wax and pollen into which the first eggs are laid. After about three weeks the first infertile female workers emerge and take over the nectar and pollen-gathering and cell building, while the queen concentrates on egg laying. The larvae are reared on pollen and nectar. The males appear in summer. Towards the end of this season, both male and female bumble bees fly out and mate. Males are allowed to re-enter the nest after mating and soon die. The fertilised queen starts searching for a safe place to hibernate but all the workers and the old queen will die with the first frosts or spell of cold weather. This species is a long-tongued bee which prefers flowers with a long flower tube such as red and white clover, lavender and members of the Labiate family. You can also attract this bee to nest in your garden in the same way as the red-tailed bumblebee, but instead of inverting a plant-bot base over the nest box, leave the front open, and covered in chicken wire to keep out mice. A free leaflet, 'Help save the Bumblebee ... get more buzz from your garden', is available from English Nature or the National Trust. FoodNectar and pollen, particularly from clover and other members of the legume family such as beans, peas and vetches. PlantsBell heather, Bloody crane's-bill, Borage, Broom, Bugle, Butterfly bush, Cardoon, Clustered bellflower, Columbine, Common comfrey, Common figwort, Common thyme, Common toadflax, Cross-leaved heath, Dropwort, Foxglove, Giant bellflower, Globe thistle, Harebell, Hazel, Hebe, Herb-Robert, Meadow clary, Meadow crane's-bill, Purple-loosestrife, Ragged-robin, Red clover, Rock crane's-bill, Sage, Sainfoin, Sea-holly, Spurge-laurel, Teasel, Tuberous comfrey, Viper's-bugloss, White clover, Wild clary, Woolly lamb's ear PredatorsBadger, Wood mouse, Yellow-necked mouse |
