Agriculture

Beecoming a Beekeeper

February 15, 2017 1

Beekeeping is by all accounts an enjoyable and educational hobby for yourself while it also benefits the local environment. You have the chance to see bees at close quarters, learn about their biology and way […]

Zoology

The Mystery of Migrating Bumblebees

November 3, 2016 2

Bumbling across the North Sea, the flight direction of bees could be more systematic than you might think. Will Hawkes contemplates a time when the geography of Europe was very different. On one of the […]

ID Guide

Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) — ID Guide

March 22, 2016 1

Last week looked at the Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius), this week we will be looking at another species which also has a red tail, the tiny Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum). B. pratorum is a relatively […]

A rather sluggish and sandy B. lapidarius from a dune system – Oisín Duffy
ID Guide

Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) — ID Guide

March 16, 2016 0

This week we’ll be looking at a highly distinctive and beautiful species of bumblebee. The red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) is a beautiful species which appears to be more abundant throughout the southern half of the […]

2 yellow bands on the thorax and 1 on the abdomen couple with a white tail – Oisín Duffy
ID Guide

Heath Bumblebee (Bombus jonellus) — ID Guide

February 29, 2016 0

Continuing with bumblebee identification, this week I’ll be writing about the Heath Bumblebee (Bombus jonellus). As the name suggest this bumblebee can be found around upland areas of bog and heath but it is also […]

Large carder bee (Bombus muscorum) foraging on Water mint (Mentha aquatica) in a coastal habitat – Oisín Duffy
ID Guide

Moss Carder Bee (Bombus muscorum) — ID Guide

February 24, 2016 0

Last week I wrote about the Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) and I mentioned how it’s very distinctive but how there is also one confusion species, that’s what I’ll be writing about this week. The […]

ID Guide

Common Carder Bee (Bombus Pascuorum) — ID Guide

February 19, 2016 1

The Common Carder Bee (Bombus Pascuorum) is one of our most common bumblebee species in Ireland. The species is quite distinctive and once it is seen, it cannot really be forgotten. It’s also very lucky […]

ID Guide

White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) — ID Guide

February 9, 2016 0

Following on from my last piece on the Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), it now makes sense to look at one of its most similar species, the White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum). White-tailed bumblebee Queens are large […]