Heath bumblebee

*Often have dark buff tail in the Shetlands and Western Isles

• Early flying - seen from February

• Like a small, fluffy Garden bumblebee with a short, wide face

• Males have fluffy, yellow faces

• Often have dark forms, especially queens

• Underground; they like old rodent nests, or ground-level: under dense vegetation, under bushes, leaf litter, birds nests, holes in trees

• 1 nest cycle per year in north, can have 2 cycles further south

• Lasts around three months

• Small: about 50 workers

• Found across UK but mostly in the highlands of Scotland and south coast of England

• Localised across the Midlands

• Habitat: heathland, moorland, uplands, highlands and coastal habitats