Such a colourful scene as Cirsium vulgare, the common thistle, provides pollen for the brightly coloured red-tailed bumblebee or Bombus lapidarius in the Irish countryside.

The red-tailed bumblebee is a common bee in Ireland although according to a 2006 NPWS report it was listed as near threatened.

I could have sat and watched, and indeed photographed, these bees all day as they came and went but on I then went leaving them to their industriousness; finding another scene to photograph as the hot summer day baked the landscape all around.

It is interesting to note that the red-tailed bumblebee is reported as being almost absent from agricultural areas in Ireland and yet this is exactly where I found it, the edge of a large barley field in the Irish countryside that had an abundance of flowering thistles at its edge. A good sign hopefully.

The field was a-buzz with bees of different types including the buff-tailed bumblebee that I wrote about in a recent post.

Join me to photograph bees, boats and beaches at blue hour in Ireland on a Panoramic Ireland photography workshop.

The thistle Cirsium vulgare may be the national flower of Scotland, but they do also grow well in Ireland and Irish bumblebees such as this buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris enjoy the purple flowers in late summer.

Seen here on a hot August day in 2022 in the south east of Ireland, where I found some at the edge of a field which was a hive of activity for these social bees.

The Irish honeybee Apis mellifera mellifera is Ireland's only native honeybee, it's a bee with a dark abdomen and is also known as the European dark bee.

Seen here in late February, just before the end of winter meteorologically-speaking or at the start of Irish spring, this honeybee has been extraordinarily busy collecting nectar and pollen on a bright afternoon just before stormy weather hits.

This week saw an amazing amount of precipitation, particularly over the southwest of Ireland, Munster, where Cork and Clonmel saw extensive flooding. This part of Ireland has already seen above average rainfall for February and recent days have only added to the totals.

We might be restricted right now from moving too far from home but if you have a garden, balcony or window box then and some flowers then the chances are you have bees visiting.

Here the white-tailed bumblebee Bombus lucorum sits on rosemary flowers on a sunny day. I wrote about bumblebees back in February in regards to the traditional start of Irish Spring, Saint Brigid's Day.

Keep an eye out for more bee images to come here on Panoramic Ireland.