Large garden bumblebee

Description:

Four species of bumblebee (Bombus) were introduced from England in 1885 and 1906 for pollination and seed production of red clover. Their longer tongues can reach inside red clover flowers, which the shorter-tongued honeybees cannot do – although they are excellent pollinators of the smaller white clover flowers. Bumblebees are sometimes used to pollinate greenhouse and orchard crops. Bombus ruderatus, is one of the bumblebee species wich was introduced in NZ. Spotted at Wellington Botanic gardens, foraging on a vicia villosa albiflora plant.