COMMON CARDER BEE

A SMALL number of bumblebee species are gingery-brown, but by far the most abundant is the common carder bee.

The carder bees get their name from the wool-processing term ‘carding’, because they comb grass and plant material together in order to make their cosy nests low to the ground or in old mouse holes.

The common carder may be on the wing from spring through until even as late as November, and can be found in a wide range of habitats, from heaths and hedgerows to farmland and gardens.

The fact that it has some black hairs on its abdomen separates it from two other orangeybrown carder bees that are far rarer: the brown-banded carder and the moss carder.