This blog documents the story of the Bee Limerick Group and their quest to introduce honey bees back into the city centre of Limerick. Bee Limerick along with its partners are also involved in planting native Irish flowers, shrubs and trees to create a resilient urban ecology.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Identifying Native Bumble Bees

Ireland has one native honey bee, 20 bumble bees and 80 solitary bees species. Ireland’s bee fauna is less than half the size of that in Britain, which has about 260 species, and is very depauperate is comparison to central Europe.

Bumble bees
Bumble bees are social and live in colonies with a Queen, female workers and some males. From a total of 20 Irish species, 6 species are cuckoo bumblebees and don’t make their own nests, but instead lay their eggs in the nest of a true bumblebee. 

The National Biodiversity Data Centre has a list of species profiles for Irish bees

The natural history museum in London has released an interactive tool to help you identify bees 

Rothamsted the agricultural research centre in England makes available a simple diagram to help group bumblebees according to their colour. UK Bumblebee Colour Groups

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Local Bee Visitors

                   Flower Common Fumitory, Fumaria officinalis, Camán searraigh díge
                   Bee Common carder bumble bee - Bombus pascuorum

Common carder bumble bee - Bombus pascuorum . It is a surface-nesting bumble bee which constructs its nest in cavities such as old mouse runs and among mats of moss in lawns.Nests can contain up to 200 workers. Only the young fertilised queen survives the winter, having hibernated in a protected place such as a hole or under moss. She emerges in spring, either starting up her own colony or taking over an existing one. The queen makes pots of wax and pollen into which the first eggs are laid.This species is a long-tongued bee which prefers flowers with a long flower tube such as red and white clover and lavender and members of the Labiate family.