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.