Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all my followers

I must admit, I have not seen many specimens of #Bombus variabilis, this #cuckoo #bumblebee was collected in Florida in 1984. @paulwilliamsnhm.bsky.social

Buff-tailed Bumblebee worker foraging at Mahonia in Calverley Grounds today

Bombus Consobrinus, Norway 2022. This bee has the longest tongue of all scandinavian bees. It is specialised on Monkshood flowers with deep corolla's. Lovely, very fast, quite large bees 😘

Check out our review/perspective piece on phylogenetic diversification analysis, intended for the 75th anniversary of @systbiol.bsky.social. I had the privilege of working with great coauthors, @fhenaodiaz.bsky.social, @tvasconcelos.bsky.social and @roszenil.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

One of my favourites, it took two vacations in the French alps to find these beauties. Bombus Brodmannicus, a specialized bumblebee dependend on Cerinthe. This was 2023 July. Mind: running on a slope diving low to shoot the bees hanging under low flowers being very shy 😍 Very Mindful activity.

The ‘shocking’ water crisis in parts of South East England www.channel4.com/news/the-sho...

Male Redtailed bumblebee (B. Lapidarius) foraging, Sweden spring 2024. Typical: long antennae and moustache, I love the colours. Verge of a grey gravelroad.

Weekend starter 😊 A male Red Shanked Carderbee (B. Ruderarius) foraging on Greater Knapweed, Sweden spring 2025.

Foraging worker with full pollen-baskets and queen of Buff-tailed Bumblebee in Calverley Grounds today

Dorothy Hodges' remarkable book 'The Pollen Loads of the Honeybee' (1952) has seasonal colour charts to identify which flowers the pollen comes from

Christmas comes early to the sunny southeast

For #EntSoc2025 folks interested in insect responses to extreme weather, Neal Williams and I are hosting a session, "Hot Bees" in D133/134. We'll focus the methods and tools we can use to understand how heat waves impact wild pollinators across ecological scales. Join us! 🌡️🐝💨🌼

South Sweden summer 2024, lucky shot having two bumblebees sharp at once. Tree bumblebee and a white tailed bumblebee.

Today the 2025 State of the Cryosphere report was published by over 50 leading cryosphere scientists. An urgent warning about the global consequences of the meltdown of ice, including the risk of shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean current system #AMOC. 🌊 iccinet.org/statecryo25/

Bombus terrestris queens and pollen-collecting workers on Fatsia in the garden today despite early November

#EntSoc25 Curious about the future of bee taxonomy? Join our workshop to explore its current state, identify research gaps, and discover innovative solutions shaping the field. Wednesday at 1:30 PM in C25 @entsocamerica.bsky.social 🐝🧬🔬 @isabellamanning.bsky.social @mmlopezu.bsky.social

Morning! @nhm.org looking lovely before the hordes arrive 🤩

ICE is stockpiling arms, including chemical weapons, guided missile warheads and explosive components. The spending dwarfs anything we've ever seen in the agency - a 700% increase. The President is building an army to attack his own country.

Our new paper “On the nomenclature of Bombus flavifrons Smith, 1866 (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombini)” @paulwilliamsnhm.bsky.social jhr.pensoft.net/article/1632...

Red-tailed Bumblebee queen in Calverley Grounds today

Slopes of Mt. Mottarone, north Italy. Few flowers now and few bbees (mostly probably B. pascuorum). This one a male.

#MacroMonday A big bumble bee for today’s #macro Monday. #bee #insects #pollen #EastCoastKin #photography

Bee on a Coneflower #bees #gardening #nature #flowers #photography #entomology

The job of CEO of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust is now being advertised, as the wonderful Gill Perkins has announced she is stepping down. Fab opportunity for the right person: www.bumblebeeconservation.org/what-we-do/v...

The morning #bee 🐝

Good walk round Grassholm Reservoir, Co. Durham.

Three years ago at Canvey Wick, brown site next to the Thames estuary. After a wildfire new vegetation was flourishing with beautiful Shrill carder males foraging.

Thank you! And what an honour to be appointed Director of the amazing @zoologymuseum.bsky.social Sad to leave @rhulbiology.bsky.social after a wonderful 16.5 years, but very excited by this new challenge and amazing opportunity. I can’t wait to get started!

In 2023 we found Bombus Brodmannicus in the French Alps. This bumblebee is dependend on pollen of Cerinthe Minor. Amazingly fast bees, difficult to shoot beautifull coulours. Three days later all was eaten by sheep sadly.

Removal of a hornet’s nest.

Really enjoyable day surveying scarce insects at the Balmoral Estate with @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social, @savebutterflies.bsky.social East Scotland, and Balmoral Ranger Service. Bilberry Bombus monticola and Broken-belted B. soroeensis Bumblebees both new to me.

Queen of Garden Bumblebee at Watermill Cove, St Mary's, Scilly

Disgusted to see this beautiful landscape ruined by wind turbines.

An evening walk at Milton Creek CP, Sittingbourne. At least 2 Song Thrush & 2 Blackcap in song, 2 Common Sandpiper (yt) on the creek. The carder Bumblebee’s liked the flowering Knapweed with (hopefully Shril, Brown-banded & Common seen along with Red-tailed & Buff-tailed. A few Gatekeepers also seen

Plenty of Shrill Carder Bee (Bombus sylvarum) workers seen on today's survey of a brownfield site in Cardiff - we're so lucky to have these beautiful bees in South Wales! 😍 Brown-banded Carder Bee (B. humilis) also present in abundance.

Two nice backyard shots of Bombus lapidarius male foraging.

#MacroMonday a Nevada bumblebee drone looking out for new queens. Note his big antenna and his very big eyes. Male bumblebees queue up on long tall pieces of grass watching for queens while chasing other drones away. They’ll mate with new queens, She’ll overwinter and start a new quality next year.

"i asked grok" "i asked chatgpt" yeah well i asked carl sagan and he said the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge 🧪

Came across an odd what I first thought was a Wasp species at Oare recently......but I,m now leaning towards a huge male Ant ,a Large Velvet Ant (Mutilla Europea ) .The Bumblebee a male Red -Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus Lapidarius) Happy to be corrected. @ianbeavis.bsky.social

Tiengemeten yesterday, a Bombus veteranus (Zandhommel) foraging. This was the only one I've seen wich is quite disappointing.

Dinner is served #bees #macro #flower #wildlife #nature #photography #photographersofbluesky