Common Carder Bumblebee | Garden Junkie

Scientific Name: Bombus pascuorum

Species: Bumblebee (Bee – Solitary)

The Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum), also known as the Ginger Bumblebee, is a social insect belonging to the bee family Apidae.

Conservation Status:

The conservation status of the Common Carder Bumblebee is relatively stable and is currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN European Red List Of Bees. However, habitat loss and pesticide use are potential threats.

About:

Being social bees, Common Carder Bumblebees live in colonies with a single queen and worker bees that help raise the young.

How to Identify:

To identify common bees like the Common Carder Bumblebee look for its fluffy, brown-and-orange appearance, sometimes displaying darker bands abdominal hairs, and a rusty orange tail.

Nesting:

Common Carder Bumblebees often nest in old bird nests, mammal burrows, or grassy tussocks (a compact bunch of grass that grows in clumps or tufts). They are known to create small, untidy, and well-camouflaged nests.

When to See:

These bumblebees are early risers and are active from Spring (March) through Autumn (September), buzzing around flowers on sunny days.

Distribution:

Common Carders Bumblebees can be found in various regions across the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe

Habitats:

The Common Carder Bumblebee is distributed across a wide range of habitats, including grasslands, meadows, gardens, and even some urban areas, however, they particularly favour meadows, and pastures, with flower-rich environments, but readily adapt to other various habitats.

Did You Know Fact:

Carder bumblebees are called so because they have a habit of gathering and combining materials to create a protective covering for the cells where the larvae are housed.

Thus the term “carding” involves the process of teasing out wool or cotton using a comb-like tool. Female Carder bees possess five sharp teeth on each mandible, which they use to strip long fibres from plant leaves to construct their nests.