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Spring is on its way!!

Dear all
 
You have probably seen over the last couple of weeks queen bumblebees starting to emerge from hibernation! The queens are generally quite big about 1/3 bigger than the workers. They will be foraging for the first two weeks and then begin to lay their eggs which will develop into workers. Once the workers begin to forage the queen then remains in the nest.
 
Here's a couple of emerging queen pictures. The first is the common carder bumblebee Bombus pascorum, which was taken By Barry Yates at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and the second is a very exciting bumblebee indeed! This is a bumblebee which hasn't been seen for over twenty years in and around the Dungeness/Romney Marsh area. It is a Bombus ruderarius queen. This queen is different from the common red tailed bumblebee because it has red hairs on the hind legs, is smaller and much much rarer! This is a very exciting find and many thanks to Chris Bentley at Rye Harbour Nature reserve for spotting it and sending the pictures in.
 
Keep a look out in your garden for more queens emerging over the next few months!!
 
Till next time..................................

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Hibernating queens

Dear all
 
The queens are now in hibernation. They have been placed into matchboxes and now are being kept cool in an incubator. Prior to this the queens were mated with males form different colonies to increase their genetic diversity. We let the queens mate for about three days and some were even seen to mate more than once! Once the queens start to try and bury themselves we know it is time for their hibernation to begin. These queens will be in hibernation for a few months and then flown back to the UK for their release.
 
Before the queens come back we will be sending back dead males, workers and original queens for a complete disease analysis screening. This will be done by world bumblebee disease expert Dr Mark Brown. Of course the last thing we want to do when we reintroduce these queens is to bring any new diseases with them. These specimens will be screened and when given the all clear we will begin the process of sending the queens over.
 
So fingers crossed all going well we shall see the short-haired bumblebee return to our shores for the first time in 22 years!!
 
Keep watching for more information..................

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