Basic Information
Common name: Early bumblebee
Scientific name: Bombus pratorum
Two yellow bands and red tail.
Very small, early emerging bumblebee.
Classification
Bee TypeBumblebee
StatusCommon
Cuckoo StatusNon-cuckoo
DistributionWidespread
Tail ColourRed Tail
Keynotes
• The UK's smallest bumblebee.
• Queens sometimes seen in February.
• Males can be quite yellow, have fluffy yellow faces and have red tail.
• Found all over the place, but especially in gardens, parks, woods, brownfield sites.
Nest Information
• Underground, in thick vegetation, in bird boxes, tree holes, roof gaps.
• 1 colony cycle in north, 2 in the South.
• Can last several months.
• Usually less that 100 workers.
Distribution
- Common.
- Widespread.
- Not found in the Hebrides or Northern Isles.
Castes
QUEEN
March
No Photo
Yellow collar
Yellow front band
Red tail
Tail:Red Tail
Thorax:Yellow Collar
Abdomen:Front Band / Red Tail
Head:Black Head
WORKER
April
No Photo
Yellow collar
Yellow front band
Red tail
Tail:Red Tail
Thorax:Yellow Collar
Abdomen:Black / Red Tail, Front Band / Red Tail
Head:Black Head
MALE
June
No Photo
Yellow fluffy face
Yellow collar
Yellow front band
Red tail
Tail:Red Tail
Thorax:Yellow Collar
Abdomen:Front Band / Red Tail
Head:Yellow Head
Flower Preferences
Loves brambles.
- Blackberries
- Blackcurrants
- Borage
- Bowle's mauve
- Flowering currant
- Geranium
- Lungwort
- Muscari
- Primula
- Pulmonaria
- Raspberries
- Snowdrops
- Wall flower
- White clover
- White dead nettles