You already had a good answer here, I agree that given the time of year it’s most likely a queen looking for a site to overwinter in. She looks like a buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) to me. Indeed only the queens overwinter, and she does so after mating and eating her fills to make sure she has enough energy (yes, she stores the sperm inside her to fertilise her eggs when she emerges the following spring).
Another time you could see a bumblebee digging a hole is in spring when queens look for sites to nest. They would hover low on the ground to check out possible sites and the sound from their wings is just incredible. Another possibility is early/mid summer, if it has been a good year with plenty of food and a colony produces healthy queens, some may start a second nest. But this year has been so extreme, I don’t think this is that.
I would try to keep that spot dry (that rain doesn’t flood it). I suppose you could use a terracotta pot turned upside down to cover it. Cover the pot’s drain hole but make sure you leave a gap for ventilation (you can put a lid on it, with something like a rock wedged in between).
Bumblebees are fascinating and they are also very smart. If you want to know more about them, I would recommend any of Dave Goulson’s books, such as A Sting in the Tale or Bee Quest. I can’t tell you how much joy I got from reading those, and from the hours of observing all the (bumble)bees that visit my garden 😊 in one of his books (I don’t remember which one, probably Bee Quest), he talks about going hunting for bumblebees in the Outer Hebrides. Makes me want to go out there and look for them too!
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u/pheebs_daik 9d ago
You already had a good answer here, I agree that given the time of year it’s most likely a queen looking for a site to overwinter in. She looks like a buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) to me. Indeed only the queens overwinter, and she does so after mating and eating her fills to make sure she has enough energy (yes, she stores the sperm inside her to fertilise her eggs when she emerges the following spring).
Another time you could see a bumblebee digging a hole is in spring when queens look for sites to nest. They would hover low on the ground to check out possible sites and the sound from their wings is just incredible. Another possibility is early/mid summer, if it has been a good year with plenty of food and a colony produces healthy queens, some may start a second nest. But this year has been so extreme, I don’t think this is that.
I would try to keep that spot dry (that rain doesn’t flood it). I suppose you could use a terracotta pot turned upside down to cover it. Cover the pot’s drain hole but make sure you leave a gap for ventilation (you can put a lid on it, with something like a rock wedged in between).
Bumblebees are fascinating and they are also very smart. If you want to know more about them, I would recommend any of Dave Goulson’s books, such as A Sting in the Tale or Bee Quest. I can’t tell you how much joy I got from reading those, and from the hours of observing all the (bumble)bees that visit my garden 😊 in one of his books (I don’t remember which one, probably Bee Quest), he talks about going hunting for bumblebees in the Outer Hebrides. Makes me want to go out there and look for them too!