Tree bumblebees

[Lockhart]

A question for those with expertise on insects: have there been many tree bumblebee records in this area?  A couple of colleagues and I found a colony in a nest box this morning (previously used by either blue or great tits) on a site my employer has set aside for biodiversity.  After discovering them by removing the nest, two bees flew back into the box and I was able to return the nest without being stung.

[Keith Ryan]

I'm certainly no expert, But I've seen a lot of Tree Bumblebees in Norton this year, for the first time I would add.

[Lockhart]

Thanks for the info, Keith.  Our site is about a mile from Norton; to the best of my knowledge, this was the first time the species has been recorded there.

[ETJ]

I first came across these bees on the 8th May 2013 while I was turning over the compost heap (this is in Nunthorpe).  Two bees of a species I'd never seen before were disturbed and flew round clearly upset (but not stinging!).  The distribution maps at the time showed that Tree Bumble Bees were found in the southeast and I thought I'd destroyed the only nest in NE England!  More up to date information showed that the species had already reached NE England and was close to the Scottish border.

Since then, they've been seen a few times in the garden.

Eric