Vestal cuckoo-bee

Not all bees are hard working. The vestal cuckoo bee Bombus vestalis takes over the nest of the buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris. The female enters the nest and kills the queen, then laying her own eggs to be reared by the Bombus terrestris workers. This is a male, feeding on the perennial wallflower. As cuckoo-bees don't have to rear their young, the don't collect pollen and thus have no pollen baskets on their hind legs. They also tend to be generally rather sluggish and docile.

I'm very behind with blip, and am struggling to remember what happened today! Probably the usual domestic stuff, in preparation for three days of fieldwork later in the week.