# Bumble bee

*Bombus spp.*

**Identification confidence:** Identifiable with care

## How to recognise it

- The entire abdomen is densely furry, including the top — this is the decisive separator from a carpenter bee, whose upper abdomen is shiny, black, and bare.
- Large and robust at 15 to 25 mm, with broad black and yellow (sometimes orange or white) bands of dense hair.
- Flight is slow, heavy, and audibly low-pitched, quite unlike the faster, higher-pitched flight of a honey bee or a wasp.

## What it leaves behind

- Small colonies in ground cavities, under decking, in compost, in old rodent burrows, or in insulation.
- A modest number of bees entering a single ground-level opening, unlike the heavy traffic of a honey bee colony.

## Why an infestation persists

Important native pollinators with small annual colonies of a few dozen to a few hundred individuals that die off in autumn, leaving only new queens. They are not aggressive away from the nest. Several North American species have declined sharply and at least one is federally listed as endangered, which makes needless destruction both unhelpful and potentially a legal matter.


## Where it occurs

Throughout the United States; several species are in documented decline.

## What prevents it

- Where the nest is away from traffic, leaving it alone through the season is usually the right answer — the colony dies off in autumn.
- Seal ground-level cavities and decking gaps in early spring, before queens select a site.

## Commonly confused with

- **Carpenter bee** (*Xylocopa spp.*) — The top of the abdomen is shiny, black, and hairless — this is the decisive separator from a bumble bee, whose abdomen is densely furry.
- **Honey bee** (*Apis mellifera*) — Body is densely covered in fine hairs, giving a fuzzy appearance, and the colouring is muted golden-brown to amber with darker bands rather than bright yellow.

**Verdict:** monitor-and-assess. Beneficial native pollinators with short-lived annual colonies. Location and season usually settle the question without any intervention.


Source: https://againstpest.shop/identify/stinging-insects/bumble-bee/