Bumble Bees - Red Tailed
In mid-June 2009 we were thinning a few of the Geranium beds adjacent to our herb gardens. Whilst doing so we created a few very snug holes in the ground prior to deciding what would go in the spaces left by the Geraniums. Nature made the decision for us as when we returned a few days later we found a queen red tailed Bee surrounded by her willing workers, about 40 bees in total.
They quickly created the magical honeycombed 'moon craters' within their new earthy surroundings.
The 'Red Tailed Bee' is a lovely species which is unlikely to sting unless its nest is endangered. Only the queen bee is likely to survive the winter months and will use our man made hole as her place of hibernation. Next spring she is likely to start a new colony or maybe even find another colony to take over. We hope she stays a while as the bumble bee is becoming much less common in our english gardens and hedgerows. They are an important part of our eco systems as they help pollinate other plants such as fruit trees. Maybe she will feast on our 130 apple trees one day?
If you want to know a lot more about our humble Bumble then take a look at this short guide we found when doing our research: Help Save the Bumble Bee, get more buzz from your garden.