It’s been a while since I’ve done a post about what’s flowering now. Today at the London Wetland Centre I found plenty of flowers, so it seemed like a good time. Most people who go to the Centre come away with photos of ducks, swans or otters, of course I managed to get bees instead!
Red clover is just coming out now and I think this is a common carder bee, the only common UK bumblebee that is mostly brown or ginger. The first time red clover flowers it has too long a flower for a honey bee to collect the nectar, but red clover which has been cut and then grown back has a flower short enough for a honey bee to reach the nectar. Ted Hooper writes in ‘Guide to Bees and Honey‘ (5th ed, 2010) that it flowers from mid July to the end of August – which just shows how much our climate is changing.
Some herbs – always popular with bees – are starting to flower. These little pinky white flowers are thyme.
But what bee is this? I think perhaps an Early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum). This one has a wide yellow band on its thorax, so perhaps a male? The Bumblebee Conservation Trust website says “Early bumblebees are a particularly small species and the workers are markedly smaller than other foraging worker species appearing in the springtime. Males have a broad yellow collar that wraps around the thorax, and yellow hair on the face.” Mature nests are small, often with fewer than 100 workers.
This blue star-like plant is borage, a great favourite with bees. Lots of creamy pollen in the baskets. As males don’t have to collect pollen, this must be a female. Another Early bumblebee?
Garlic chives. You can’t see from the photo but bees were all over these, including a magnificently huge and fluffy common Carder bee.
Dog roses are popular with honey bees.
I saw all kinds of bees working the yellow flag irises that lined the watersides.
I didn’t see any bees on these garden poppies but included them anyway because they’re so beautiful.
A pretty impressive insect hotel.
Now, a couple of flowers I’d like help with. I keep seeing these lovely clusters of white flowers everywhere – what are they?
And what about this lollipop-shaped pink one? Thanks!
EDIT: Thanks LindyLou for identifying this as Bistorta officinalis, commonly known as bistort or European bistort.