NEN Gallery

The Common Carder Bee likes a variety of habitats (meadows, parks, gardens, woods and fields) in lowland areas.
It emerges later than other bees. It is a gingery colour all over, but in time this fades and the hairs may become almost white. It may or may not have black hairs on the abdomen. The size of the Queen and workers may vary greatly. It is common in gardens and elsewhere. Queen, workers and males are similar in colour. Like all bees it lives socially in a colony. Worker, males and the old queen all die in the autumn. The young queens overwinter and emerge in the spring to start a new nest. The nest is small with only about 100 - 200 cells. The nest is less intricate than that of the honey bees and can be found amongst plants or in old birds nests. Picture taken at Northill Woods, Bedfordshire 11th September 2011.