An organised flower holiday in Britain is the perfect opportunity to master the skill of identifying the many bee species. While it is regarded as a challenging skill to master when first starting out, with the aid of an expert guide and a few key features to look out for, it can become a much more straightforward activity.
Banding Patterns
This tip applies in particular to white-tailed species. By taking a closer look at the bands on a bee, identification can sometimes very quickly be ascertained. For example, the Buff-tailed Bumblebee has two yellow bands, whilst the Garden Bumblebee has three.
This is a relatively straightforward way to identify a species without any trouble, and as such is a useful place to start. The number of bands can vary from one to three.
Tail Colour
The insects can be grouped into three categories, based on the colour of their tail. These include white-tailed, red-tailed and
Caste
Identifying whether or not the insect under examination is a queen, male or worker is naturally a very helpful step towards discovering its species. As such it is a good idea to consider this as soon as the bands and tail colour have been identified.
Cuckoo vs. True
The Cuckoo Bumblebee has hairy hind legs, dark wing membranes and no pollen basket. In addition, it can be distinguished from the
Britain
In total, over 270 species have been identified in Britain. However, with the differences in appearance that exist between queen, male and workers, there is an even wider range of colours, shapes and sizes to look out for. Fewer than 10 species comprise around 95-99% of the total population of the insect in Britain.
The Banded White-Tailed Bumblebee can be spotted from March to November, and is considered to represent the archetypal version, with its easily-identifiable yellow and black bands.
Another species to look out for on the itinerary of a flower holiday in the UK is the Early Bumblebee, with its distinctive orange tail, and yellow facial hair on males. The Tree Bumblebee can be spotted from March to July, with its white tail and black abdomen, whilst the Brown Carder is
There are a number of factors that can affect how easy it is to identify the UKd naturalist guide, the above tips serve as a helpful starting point.