Little black bees with orange bums.....................

[minskey]

Hi, I have noticed this morning that and old small bird nestbox seems to have bees making a home inside. they are small black bees with a amber/orange tip on thier bum. can anyone tell me;

Is it OK to be living so near [15ft] to my front door.

What sort of bees are they?

Will they be happy where they are?

I'm delighted to have them by the way

[taff]

have a look at these
Bumblebees | Dumfries and Galloway Environmental Resources Centre

[Two_Sheds]

They're most likely red tailed bees - I just moved a nest last week. They'd taken up residence in a bird box next to the playground. The school panicked and cordoned off the area; I just put my gloves on, picked up the box and moved it slowly to a more suitable location

Bumbles rarely sting and they don't swarm

[minskey]

Ahaaa they do look like the red tailed bumblebee. I always thought bumblebee lived a solitary life and were much larger.

Looks like they are safe & harmless where they are then, cheers chaps

[Two_Sheds]

I always thought bumblebee lived a solitary life and were much larger.

We have about 25 species of bumble in the UK - they're all social animals (solitary bees like the mason bee are, well ... solitary )

[minskey]

I Love bees

[Two_Sheds]

Y'day I noticed a dead bee and a bee larva at the mouth of our nest: I hope a cuckoo hasn't got in there


With that link ^ I've managed to ID a new bumble (for me). I've seen a few bumbles with a fawn coloured back ... tree bumbles (they came to UK 10 years ago from France. To be fair, it does take a long time to get to Norfolk on our A12)

[weekendwellies]

I have those orange tailed bees come to my garden, I always thought they were solitary though as I have never seen were they nest. They love my chive flowers. And the purple geranium I have in the front too.