Nature on our doorsteps: Ginger Bumblebees

The Common Carder Bumblebee is a frequent visitor to our gardens and parks. It is instantly recognisable by the fluffy ginger-coloured hairs on its back.  The hairs on its abdomen are a mix of ginger, brown, and black.

This queen bumblebee makes her nest just above the ground, usually in tussocks of grass or in dense tangles of vegetation.

She constructs this by pulling together pieces of grass and moss, straightening and interlinking them in the same way that fibres of cotton or wool are ‘carded’ in preparation for spinning into threads.

This nest building technique gave rise to the bumblebee’s name.

The Common Carder Bumblebee frequently visits our gardens and parks

Another ginger species is the Moss Carder Bumblebee (or Large Carder Bumblebee).

This differs in having a much brighter orange-ginger back and there are no dark or black hairs amongst the blonde-orange hairs on its abdomen.

The Moss Carder Bumblebee is a much less common species. It prefers to nest and feed in flower-rich hay meadows, and these habitats are no longer common in Ireland.

Also, the Moss Carder Bumblebee tends not to fly very far from its nest while searching for food.  This makes it difficult to survive when flowering meadows are not plentiful or interconnecting.

The high number of flower-rich meadows in Tymon Park therefore act as an important oasis for these two delightful ginger bumblebees.

By Rosaleen Dwyer.