Bumblebee

How to recognise it

Large, furry, loud, and flying in cold and drizzle when honeybees stay home. Various tail colours by species.

Mistaken for

Feared as an aggressive wasp because of the size and noise. Bumblebees are extremely reluctant to sting and nest in small colonies underground.

What it eats

Not recorded — the field is blank rather than guessed.

How to attract it

A long unbroken sequence of flowers from February to November - especially early ones (rosemary, viburnum) and late ones (ivy, salvia). Leave rough grass and old mouse holes for nests.

Plants that help

Lavender, Rosemary, Borage, Sage, Phacelia, Broad bean, Tomato

Lifecycle

Annual colonies: a lone queen starts in spring, the colony dies in autumn and new queens hibernate.

Months: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October

The thing people get wrong

Tomatoes, peppers and aubergines need BUZZ pollination - the flower only releases pollen when vibrated at the right frequency, and a bumblebee does this while a honeybee cannot. If your tomato flowers drop without setting, the answer is often bumblebees, not fertiliser.