Bird, bug, butterfly and a wild variety of photos from Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain by Irish wildlife photographer Patrick J. O'Keeffe and invited guests

Showing posts with label Bees of Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bees of Europe. Show all posts

Friday 20 May 2022

BUFF TAILED BUMBLEBEE (Bombus terrestris) queen nectar robbing from a Granny's Bonnet / Columbine Plant (Aquilegia ssp.) at Saint Anne's Park and Rose Gardens, Clontarf East, Raheny, Co. Dublin, Ireland


 
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The Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) is of the family Apidae which is in the genus Bombus. This species is commonly found throughout the temperate regions of Europe, The Middle East, northern Africa and has been introduced to other countries including Australia (Tasmania), Japan as well as parts of South America. 
It is not normally seen in Ireland during the colder months of the year. In late autumn the worker bees and the males (drones) die off and the gravid queen hibernates for the winter. In recent times, it has been on the wing all year round mainly at coastal locations where shrubs such as Hebe (Hebe × franciscana), Gorse (Ulex europaeus) and Fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica) have continued to flower in mild winters.
Aquilegias produce their nectar in spurs which project from the rear of the flower head and are pollinated by long tonged insects, including hawkmoths. Short tonged insects, such as bumblebees, use a method known as nectar robbing and penetrate or cut into the plant's spurs to extract this rich food source. As a results no pollination takes place. In North America aquilegias are also pollinated by hummingbirds.  

Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds

Friday 7 January 2022

BUFF TAILED BUMBLEBEE (Bombus terrestris) one of four workers and a Queen nectering on Hebe Shrub Blossoms (Hebe × franciscana) on 11th January 2022 at Howth Yatch Club, Howth Harbour, Fingal, Co, Dublin, Ireland


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Click external link here for detailed species information
 
The Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) is of the family Apidae which is in the genus Bombus. This bumblebee is commonly found throughout the temperate regions of Europe, The Middle East, northern Africa and occurs as an introduced species in other countries including Australia (Tasmania), Japan as well as parts of South America. 
This species is not seen in Ireland during the colder months of the year, normally the worker bees and the males (drones) die off and the gravid Queen hibernates for the winter. In recent times, it has been on the wing all year round mainly at coastal locations where shrubs such as Hebe (Hebe × franciscana), Gorse (Ulex europaeus) and Fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica) have continued to flower in mild winters.

Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds

Sunday 26 September 2021

BUFF TAILED BUMBLEBEE (Bombus terrestris) nectering on Common Ivy Blossoms (Hedera helix ) Turvey Nature Reserve, Donabate, Fingal, Co. Dublin, Ireland

 


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Click external link here for detailed species information
 
The Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) is of the family Apidae which is in the genus Bombus. This bumblebee is commonly found throughout the temperate regions of Europe, The Middle East, northern Africa and occurs as an introduced species in other countries including Australia (Tasmania), Japan as well as parts of South America.  

Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds

Sunday 19 September 2021

MOSS CARDER BEE (Bombus muscorum) or LARGE CARDER BEE nectering on Devil's-bit Scabious Wildflower (Succisa pratensis) at Blacksod Village, Mullet Peninsula, Co. Mayo, Ireland


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Click external link here for detailed Moss Carder Bee information
Click external link here for detailed Devil's-bit Scabious Wildflower information

The Moss Carder Bee (Bombus muscorum) or Large Carder Bumblebee is of the family Apidae which is in the genus Bombus.
The Devil's-bit Scabious Wildflower (Succisa pratensis) is of the family Caprifoliaceae which is in the genus Succisa
 
Click external link here to view identification guide to Irish Bumblebees

Sunday 15 August 2021

MARSHAM'S NOMAD BEE (Nomada marshamella) Girley Bog, Natural Heritage Area (NHA), Scurlockstown, Kells, Co. Meath, Ireland


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 The Marsham's Nomad Bee (Nomada marshamella) is of the family Apidae which is in the genus Nomada. This cuckoo bee is a wasp mimic and is a cleptoparasite of the Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica) as well as other mining bees in the genus Andrena. The flight season is from April to early September and its food source is pollen.

Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds

Friday 2 April 2021

COMMON CARDER BUMBLEBEE (Bombus pascuorum) Turvey Nature Reserve, Donabate, Fingal, Co. Dublin, Ireland

 
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Click here for detailed species information
 
Click here to see identification guide to Irish Bumblesbees
 
The Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum) or Common Carder Bee is of the family Apidae which is in the genus Bombus.

Wednesday 24 March 2021

GARDEN BUMBLEBEE (Bombus hortorum) Turvey Nature Reserve, Donabate, Fingal, Co. Dublin, Ireland


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Click external link here for detailed species information

Click external link here to see identification guide to Irish Bumblebees 
 
The Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum) is of the family Apidae which is in the genus Bombus.

Thursday 11 March 2021

EUROPEAN HONEY BEE or WESTERN HONEY BEE (Apis mellifera) on FLOWERING CHERRY TREE (Prunus x yedoensis) blossoms, Turvey Nature Reserve, Donabate, Fingal, Co. Dublin, Ireland


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 The European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) or Western Honey Bee is of the family Apidae which is in the genus Apis. Honey bees live in a social colony containing a single egg laying queen, up to 60,000 sterile female worker bees and during the summer months also includes over 500 male bees known as drones.

Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds

Saturday 12 September 2020

Friday 28 August 2020

COMMON CARDER BUMBLEBEE (Bombus pascuorum) Lullymore West Bog, Lullymore, Co. Kildare, Ireland


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Click here for detailed species information
  Click here to see identification guide to Irish Bumblesbees
 
The Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum) or Common Carder Bee is of the family Apidae which is in the genus Bombus.

Thursday 18 June 2020

CHOCOLATE MINING BEE (Andrena scotica) Lullymore West Bog, IPCC Nature Reserve, Lullymore, Co. Kildare, Ireland


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The Chocolate Mining-bee (Andrena scotica) or Hawthorn Bee is of the family Andrenidae which is in the genus Andrena. It occurs in Europe and its range extends from Ireland eastwards to Poland. The flight season is from March to late June, peaking in May. The females are communal nesters with a group of them sharing a common entrance to a burrow in which each female tends her own eggs and larvae within a chamber off the main burrow, constructing brood cells within her tunnel and provisioning the cells with pollen and nectar collected from a wide range of flowers.

Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds
 Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrena_scotica

Sunday 6 November 2016

VIOLET CARPENTER BEE (Xylocopa violacea) Techniti Limni Agia, Agia Lake, Agia, Crete, Greece


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The Violet Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa violacea) is a member of the family Apidae which is in the genus Xylocopa. Its range extends from the temperate regions of Western Europe eastward across Asia as far as central China. In recent times, it has greatly expanded its European range northward and by 2006 had reached Britain. This very conspicuous species is the largest European bee. After mating, the gravid female bores tunnels in dead wood, hence the name "carpenter bee".

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylocopa_violacea 

Saturday 25 June 2016

WESTERN HONEY BEE (Apis mellifera) on PURPLE MILK THISTLE (Galactites tomentosa) Pelekaniotikos River, Koundoura, Crete, Greece


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The Western Honey Bee or European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) is the most common of the seven species of honey bee, though historically, from six to eleven species have been recognized. The genus name Apis is Latin for "bee" and mellifera means "honey-bearing", referring to the species' tendency to produce a large quantity of honey for storage over the winter. Like all honey bees, the Western Honey Bee is eusocial, creating colonies with a single fertile female (or "queen"), many sterile females or "workers" and small proportion of fertile males or "drones". Individual colonies can house tens of thousands of bees. Colony activities are organized by complex communication between individuals, through both odors and the dance language.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee