This archive brings together practical, experience-led articles from The Backyard Farmer, covering gardening, DIY, indoor growing, foraging, reviews, and sustainable living. Each post is written with real-world use in mind — focusing on working with nature, building practical skills, and making sustainable choices more accessible.
Introduction The Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum) is one of the most recognisable long-tongued bumblebees you are likely to see in a UK garden. It is often spotted working deep flowers such as foxgloves, honeysuckle, red clover, comfrey and vetches, where its long face and tongue
The Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) is one of the UK’s most familiar bumblebees and often one of the first large queens seen in late winter or early spring. It is a broad, sturdy bumblebee with two golden-yellow bands and a pale tail. Despite the name,
The Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) is one of the most familiar bumblebees in UK gardens. It is usually a warm ginger-brown, slightly scruffy-looking bee with a fluffy thorax, buff-orange tones on the abdomen, and at least some darker hairs mixed through the body. At
The Shrill Carder Bee (Bombus sylvarum) is a rare UK bumblebee. Look for a pale straw-coloured body, a black band between the wing bases, narrow dark abdominal bands and a reddish-orange tail. Most UK records come from southern England and south Wales, usually on flower-rich
Introduction The Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) is one of the easiest UK bumblebees to recognise once you know what to look for. It has a ginger-brown thorax, a black abdomen and a pale or white tail, giving it a clear three-colour pattern that stands out
Brown-banded Carder Bees are best identified from several features together, not from the brown abdominal band alone. Fresh, well-marked bees are easier to assess, while wear, lighting and poor photo angles can obscure the key differences. Queen, Worker and Male Identification Queens, workers and males
The Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) is one of the easiest UK bumblebees to recognise, especially when you see a female. Queens and workers are mostly velvety black with a bright red or orange-red tail and no obvious yellow bands. Many people first notice this species
The Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) is one of the first bumblebees you are likely to see in the UK each spring. Small, quick-moving and often active from March onwards, it is an important early pollinator for garden plants, fruit blossom, wildflowers and hedgerow plants. This
The White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) is one of the most familiar bumblebees seen in UK gardens, hedgerows, meadows, parks, and woodland edges. It has a mostly black body, bright lemon-yellow bands, and a clean white tail. However, this is also one of the harder bumblebees