{"id":15745,"date":"2022-04-08T15:00:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=60011"},"modified":"2022-04-08T15:59:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T13:59:14","slug":"best-plants-for-bumblebees","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/best-plants-for-bumblebees\/","title":{"rendered":"Best plants for bumblebees"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Megan Shersby\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 08 April 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Bumblebees<\/a> are familiar insects to many of us, with their big fluffy bodies and loud buzzing. The genus name \u2018Bombus<\/em>\u2019 has its origins in Latin, meaning \u2018booming\u2019. They belong to the Hymenoptera order, which also includes other bees (honeybees<\/a> and solitary bees), wasps, ants and sawflies.<\/p>\n

Bumblebees can usually be identified to species level by the colour and pattern of their stripes, however some species can look very similar \u2013 particularly the cuckoo bumblebees<\/a> which are parasites and trying to mimic other species.<\/p>\n

The 18 social species make nests, lay eggs for worker bees, queen bees and male bees, and collect pollen. The other six cuckoo bumblebee species do not make their own nests, and lay eggs for only queens and males.<\/p>\n

Which bumblebees are likely to visit your garden?<\/h2>\n

There are 24 species of bumblebee found in the UK currently, but only some of them are commonly found in gardens, such as the white-tailed, buff-tailed, common carder, tree, garden and early bumblebees.<\/p>\n

You can attract bumblebees to your garden by providing flowering plants that they will feed from. One of my favourite ways to go plant shopping is to wander round a garden centre on a sunny day and look to see what plants the bees, butterflies and other insects are visiting and feeding from, and then to buy some of those. This does result in a bit of a mishmash of plants in the garden. However, if you fancy a bit more planning with your garden layout, you can use this guide to work out which plants you want to buy, either via the links provided or on your next trip to a garden centre.<\/p>\n

Visit our wildlife gardening hub<\/a> for more advice on attracting wildlife to your garden, including how to make a bee hotel<\/a>, best wildlife gardening books<\/a>, and how to help hibernating amphibians<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bumblebee lookalikes<\/h2>\n

As a rule of thumb, bumblebees can be distinguished from honeybees and most other solitary bees by their larger, furry bodies. However, there are some solitary bees, flies and even a beetle that can be confused with bumblebees, especially if they are flying about and hard to get a good look at:<\/p>\n

Hairy-footed flower bee (Anthophora plumipes<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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A female hairy-footed flower bee. \u00a9 Ian Redding\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

One of our delightful spring bees<\/a>, the black female hairy-footed flower bee in particular can be mistaken for a bumblebee as she has a large black, fluffy body. A key identification feature are the orange hairs on her hind legs, but if she\u2019s busy flying about, then these are very hard to spot!<\/p>\n

Dark-edged bee-fly (Bombylius major<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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A dark-edged bee-fly (<\/em>Bombylius major) perching on grass. \u00a9 Sandra Standbridge\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The most common and widespread of the bee-flies in the UK<\/a>, the dark-edged bee-fly can be mistaken for a bumblebee thanks to its fluffy body and high-pitched buzz. It\u2019s not trying to mimic bumblebees, in fact it wants to get close to the nesting sites of ground-nesting solitary bees so it can flick its eggs into the nests. The eggs then hatch and the larvae feed on the bee grubs.<\/p>\n

Bumblebee hoverfly (Volucella bombylans<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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The bee mimic hoverfly (<\/em>Volucella bombylans var. plumata) taken in Durham, UK. \u00a9 Peter Swan\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Now this hoverfly<\/a> species is mimicking bumblebees on purpose \u2013 it wants to trick bumblebees into thinking it is one of them, so it can get in close and lay its eggs in the bumblebee (or wasp) nest. The larvae feed on debris in the nest, and sometimes bee larvae. It comes in two colour forms mimicking different species of bumble. Var bombylans<\/em> is black with a red tail, whilst var. plumata<\/em>\u00a0(pictured<\/em>) is black and yellow with a white tail.<\/p>\n

Giant tachinid fly (Tachina grossa<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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Giant tachinid fly (<\/em>Tachina grossa) in Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany. \u00a9 Erhard Nerger\/imageBROKER\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This large fly has a black hairy body and pale face, and can resemble a bumblebee in flight. The female lays its eggs on other insect larva, usually large hairy Lepidopteran caterpillars such as the oak eggar moth and fox moth. The fly eggs then hatch inside the caterpillar and devour it, killing it.<\/p>\n

Eurasian bee beetle (Trichius fasciatus<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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A bee beetle (<\/em>Trichius fasciatus). \u00a9 Tatiana Terekhina\/Getty<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

A very well-named beetle species, with its yellow-orange and black stripes that resemble the patterning of a bumblebee. This species belongs to the flower chafers subfamily (Cetoninnae) of the scarab beetles family (Scarabaeidae), which also includes noble chafer beetles<\/a> and rose chafer beetles.<\/p>\n

Best plants for bumblebees<\/h2>\n

Common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea<\/em>)<\/h3>\n