Maiden Queen

In the early evening sunlight we were priviledged to watch as a new Buff-tailed Bumblebee Queen emerged from the airbrick entrance of her nest in the North Wall of our house.
She seemed to be squeezing herself out a millimeter at a time, it seemed as if she was too large to get through the small vents and we wondered if she was going to make it. Head first and then a front leg, then another, a bit more then a final squeeze and she was out.
Her orange and black hair looked pristine and her black head slightly glistened in the evening light.
A few steps on the wall and then she turned and went back in with out a slight hesitation ! Well maybe a test flight tomorrow.


She is not the first of the new queens to emerge, at least two others have taken their maiden flights and appear to have some difficulty navigating back to the nest hole.
Above the airbrick is our lounge window which to a bee probably looks like another bit of garden because it reflects an image that has fooled more than one bird in the past.
I think it is usually these large queens that frequently head straight for the window panes and when I am in the room I hear the 'tap' as they hit the glass.
My plan is to build one or more Bumblebee nest boxes to encourage these new Queens to stay in our garden and establish a new colony when she has successfully mated.