Spring at last

A fantastic afternoon this Sunday at The Lodge - bees everywhere and a smattering of butterflies. At least 6 species of bumblebees out and about (lucorum, terrestris, lapidarius, pratorum, hypnorum and one type of cuckoo). A small tortoiseshell and red admiral were a welcome sight too.

Bumbles at the Lodge

Nice selection of Bumblebees at the lodge the other day
Bombus pratorum sharing a flower with a longhorn (Rutpela maculata)

Several B.hypnorum workers out on bramble flowers

and what I'm pretty sure is a B.sylvestris male, a cuckoo of B.pratorum

Bombus hypnorum queen

It's the first time I've seen a Bombus hypnorum queen, but it seems like these guys are well settled in Bedfordshire now. Picture taken in the gardens at The Lodge.

Cuckoo bumblebee at The Lodge

A very muddy queen cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus vestalis I think) recently emerged from the soil.

Another bumblebee

Another Bombus terrestris queen at The Lodge.

The mite-y bumblebee

An uncomfortable looking Bombus terrestris queen covered in mites at The Lodge yesterday.

Spring bees

A rather wooly Bombus pratorum (Early Bumblebee) photographed at The Lodge this weekend and a couple of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) in my garden in Sandy.