Buff-tailed bumblebee
Bombus terrestris
Role in the garden
A major pollinator, capable of buzz pollination, a thoracic vibration that releases the pollen of flowers with poricidal anthers (tomato, blueberry, aubergine). See the Buzz pollination concept.
Activity period
February to November
How to attract / manage it
Emerges very early (sometimes as early as February), one of the first pollinators available. Precious for early-flowering fruit trees.
Practical guide
Where to find them
All nectar-rich flowers, but with a preference for Solanaceae (tomato, aubergine), Lamiaceae (lavender, sage), borage, comfrey. Nests in the ground (old vole burrows, under a stone, under a shed).
Prevention
Preserve vole burrows and untilled areas along the garden's edge. No close mowing. Early nectar plants (goat willow, dandelion, blackthorn). No insecticide during flowering.
Sources
- Bumblebee Conservation Trust : Buff-tailed bumblebee (bumblebeeconservation.org)
- De Luca, P.A. & Vallejo-Marín, M. (2013). What's the 'buzz' about? The ecology and evolutionary significance of buzz-pollination. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 16(4), 429-435.
- Velthuis, H.H.W. & van Doorn, A. (2006). A century of advances in bumblebee domestication and the economic and environmental aspects of its commercialization for pollination. Apidologie, 37(4), 421-451.
Favourite plants / resources
Related plant entries
Tomato
Central plant of the tomato guild. The neighbouring basil is reputed to hinder aphids through its volatile compounds.
Courgette (zucchini)
A cucurbit (Cucurbita pepo) with separate male and female flowers on the same plant, dependent on bees and bumblebees for cross-pollination, hence the value of companion flowers nearby. Sow in pots in April or in place after the last frosts (mid-May), in rich soil well supplied with compost. Its large leaves quickly cover the ground and limit weeds; mulching and watering at the base (never on the foliage) slows the powdery mildew common in late summer. Harvesting young and regularly keeps production going.
Squash
The ground cover of the Three Sisters: its large leaves keep the soil cool and hold weeds back.
Lavender
A Mediterranean subshrub with evergreen grey foliage, true lavender forms structuring low edges and hedges that hold the dry garden together in full sun, on poor, dry, free-draining soils. Its summer flowering is among the most melliferous in the garden: it offers nectar and pollen at the height of summer, an often lean period, and draws honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies and hoverflies, the latter beneficial insects whose larvae devour aphids. A refuge for wild pollinators, it is traditionally planted along vegetable borders and near roses, its scent reputed to help diversify the surrounding odours. Drought-tolerant and hardy once established, it clothes rockeries, banks and paths without watering, while keeping its grey outline all year round.