Garden Bumblebee.

The Garden Bumblebee.Bombus hortorum is a common bumblebee and I see it at this time of year in my garden.However this particular bee pictured below was discovered in my local copse feeding on Bugle flowers.This species has a very long tongue and  prefers flowers with deep tubes.

Perhaps the best way to distinguish between B. hortorum and other species with similar banding,such as the Heath Bumblebee,is the shape of the face which is distinctly long in the case of  B. hortorum.

Bombus hortorum

The Garden Bumblebee,Bombus hortorum,is distinguished from the similar looking Bombus jonellus,by the shape of the head.

The bumblebee below has been confirmed by this method as a Bombus hortorum and I am grateful to Adam Wright of the Isle of Wight Natural History & Archaeological Society for his continued help in bumblebee identification.

Bombus hortorum or Bombus jonellus

Again on my garden fence this morning were several bumblebees enjoying the morning sunshine.
This particular bumblebee caught my eye as it seemed to display two yellow bands on its thorax as opposed to the one band on the species Bombus terrestris and Bombus lucorum.This would indicate therefore that the bumblebee is the Garden Bombus hortorum or the Heath Bombus jonellus as both have the two bands.

A definite identification is normally seen in the shape of the face,more or less rounded in the case of the jonellus whereas hortorum is elongated.