Belongs to: bumblebees
Compare with: common carder bee
Brown-banded carder bee Bombus humilis
Threatened
Best time to see: mid May to mid Sep
Key facts
A nationally scarce species, but relatively common in Essex along the Thames estuary
Found in worked-out pits, old flower-rich grassland, sea walls and open areas in country parks
Require extensive flower-rich foraging areas, especially deadnettles and flowers in the pea family
Recognition
Queens are fairly small and predominantly yellow-orange in colour, without banding on the thorax
Workers are similar to queens but much smaller
Distinguished from the common carder bee by having no black hairs on the abdomen
Lifecycle
Queens emerge from hibernation usually from mid-May, build themselves up, then search for a nest-site
Nest is made of grass and moss on the ground in tall open vegetation
The colony peaks in August and workers continue foraging into September
© Peter Harvey