You can see why they call this the Red-tailed Bumblebee. This is a male with the yellow stripes. I really liked my Lavender, and must have been around it for about half an hour going from flower to flower.
August 2017, rear garden, Staffordshire, England.
Nature Journeys 
This is a cutie, and I really like the the photo with the wings all a-flutter.
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Thank you, Linda 🙂 That was one of those luck shots.
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beautiful shots, Pete. I know Tish has photographed this bee as well. It is one we do not get down here. More’s the pity, she is a stunner.
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Thank you, Ark 🙂 I do have a fondness for the bumblee in particular.
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All great photos, but I love the first one the most!
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Thank you, Laura 🙂 That was my very first shot, and it was so busy I did not think I would get anymore!
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What a busy bee! I’ve never seen a bumblebee like that. I see you’ve taken shots of lots of different kinds of bumblebees. How clever of you to know the different kinds. My own classification is “big bumblebees” and “small bumblebees”. I don’t think we have such a variety here in NZ. I’ll have to learn more about them!
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Some of the bees are fairly easy to id because I was so interested in them when I was younger, but others are a real challenge. In fact I thought this was one of the cuckoo bumblebees at first until I checked my books. Bumblebees are very hard to photo because they never stop moving – hardly ever – when they are so taken with a particular flower or flowers, so patience comes into mostly. Thank you for your comment, Liz 🙂
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We used to have a little Honda City car and its colour was “Hazy Days” (isn’t that a great colour name?). Hazy Days was a lovely lavender blue. And gosh, the bumble bees loved it. We’d drive somewhere and park, and in no time at all bumble bees would be attracted like bees to a honey pot!
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awesome clicks Pete !!!
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I love these photos Pete!! Lovely colors and textures. Looks like the bee is wearing a fur coat and big sunglasses. A rare close up.
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Thank you very much, Aspaai 🙂 I love your description of it 🙂 It is rare, for they never stop ‘bumbling’ around, always busy busy like it has no time to spare.
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Nice work..
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Thank you 🙂
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Wonderful photos, Pete. Like Linda I especially like the one with the wings in motion~absolutely stunning. The bee really is a cutie… how are your bumblebees doing? We are losing a lot of our insects here.
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Thank you very much, Melissa 🙂 Locally here they seem pretty good, and I am getting a lot of different species visiting. But nationally they are suffering, sadly. I have a softspot for bumblebees in particular, and I think it would be such a loss if more of them become extinct.
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Me too, I love their fuzzy impossibility 🙂
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A lovely little guy Pete! Is there not also a buff-tailed bumble-bee?
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Yes, you have the white-tailed bumblebee also 🙂
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🐝🐝🐝
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You and your wodnerful smileys … or beeeys, lol! 🙂
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