The Bees Knees

The buff colour tail of Mrs Bombus terrestris (or should that be Ma'am as she is the Queen)

I followed her to an unlikely looking small hole under some leaves which I guess is the new nest-in-progress.

I will be careful not to stick a fork in there in the coming months!

On a neighbouring Skimmia another Queen, this looks like the red tailed Bombus lapidarius. 

The skimmia smells like pure honey with the sun on it, I am not surprised it is full of bees. Not as full as our chimney mind you - that is where these honey bees have nested for the past few years - It gets quite noisy sometimes!

Not a real bee but a fly - a Bee Fly - Bombylius major, a fast wee fellow who did his best to elude my lens!


Whether a true bumble bee or just a cuckoo bee?  It's all in the hairiness of the legs! 
The Bumble Bee Conservation Trust has a super helpful identification webpage if you want to get that close!