Monday, 28 March 2016

Bees

Red-tailed Bumblebee

I saw two beautiful bees before Easter. The one above was on our patio slabs, and I feared it might have fallen from the roof or gutter. However, I put down a little water, sweetened with sugar, which it moved towards. When I looked next, the bee had vanished. I hope all was well and that it had flown off.

I'm guessing this was a rather small Buff-tailed Bumblebee

This second bee was quite small, and found moving around on Dunwich Heath near the row of coastguard cottages. There have been other bees, too, including a whirl of dark bees on the masonry walls of Hedingham Castle in Essex, about which I will write more in due course. It is lovely to find insects out and about again, but I have still to spot my first 2016 butterfly.

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4 comments:

  1. Amanda Peters29 March 2016 at 21:57

    Lovely to see the bees, seen the odd one but weather not to Bee friendly again to day.
    Not seen a butterfly either !
    Amanda xx

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  2. Ragged Robin30 March 2016 at 11:36

    So good to see your bee photos - here I have just seen a few whizzing past the kitchen window! I am still waiting for my first butterfly of the year too!

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  3. Crafty Green Poet1 April 2016 at 07:51

    Lovely photos, specially the red tailed bumble bee!

    I've seen several queen bumble bees so far this year, looking for nest sites. I've also seen one honey bee. I have seen one butterfly too, but it was at a distance and in poor light so I have no idea what species it was!

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  4. Stewart7 April 2016 at 19:19

    Hi again Caroline I think your small 'buff tailed' is an Early Bumblebee. It has a rusty tail compared to the yellow bands?


    Regards Stewart

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