April 2010 The Red-tailed Bumblebee is widespread throughout most of the UK.
The queens can be seen from March when they visit flowers to build up their food reserves before forming a nest. Queens and females are all black with an orange-red tail. Males emerge later and can be seen from June to October. They have yellow hairs on the face and thorax while the abdomen is black and the tail is orange-red.
Nests are built underground or in cavities in walls or trees and they can have up to 150 workers.
There is more information on Bumblebee.org.
| Previous Page | Back to Index | Next Page |