Black-tailed Bumble Bee

Photo of a Black-tailed Bumble Bee resting underneath a low-growing Manzanita shrub. This is a large bumble bee, because it is early in the year (February) it is probably a queen. She has yellow or mixed color on her face, black between her eyes. Thorax is mixed color at the scutum with a black wing band and mixed color at the scutellum. First is mixed to yellow/ivory followed by a large black section. The black section has a faint, thin section of light hairs mixed with black in the middle. Last sections are appear ivory in color but are partially obscured.
Photo of a Black-tailed Bumble Bee resting underneath a low-growing Manzanita shrub. This is a large bumble bee, because it is early in the year (February) it is probably a queen. She has yellow or mixed color on her face, black between her eyes. Thorax is mixed color at the scutum with a black wing band and mixed color at the scutellum. First is mixed to yellow/ivory followed by a large black section. The black section has a faint, thin section of light hairs mixed with black in the middle. Last sections are appear ivory in color but are partially obscured.
Photo of a Black-tailed Bumble Bee resting underneath a low-growing Manzanita shrub. This is a large bumble bee, because it is early in the year (February) it is probably a queen. She has yellow or mixed color on her face, black between her eyes. Thorax is mixed color at the scutum with a black wing band and mixed color at the scutellum. First is mixed to yellow/ivory followed by a large black section. The black section has a faint, thin section of light hairs mixed with black in the middle. Last sections are appear ivory in color but are partially obscured.
Photo of a Black-tailed Bumble Bee resting underneath a low-growing Manzanita shrub. This is a large bumble bee, because it is early in the year (February) it is probably a queen. She has yellow or mixed color on her face, black between her eyes. Thorax is mixed color at the scutum with a black wing band and mixed color at the scutellum. First is mixed to yellow/ivory followed by a large black section. The black section has a faint, thin section of light hairs mixed with black in the middle. Last sections are appear ivory in color but are partially obscured.

Where I live the Black-tailed Bumble Bee1 is usually the first species I see in January or February, depending on local conditions.

On a walk last winter I stopped by a small community park near my house. The date was February 15, 2024. The park has a few native plant cultivars, including three manzanita shrubs. 2024 was the third year that I visited the manzanita shrubs from February through March to look for bumble bees. I noticed a large bumble bee that flew in toward one of the shrubs but then seemed to disappear beneath the lowest growing leafy stems. I located her again where she was resting on the ground among a protective cluster of manzanita leaves.

Because they bloom earlier than many other plants, manzanitas are great floral resources for bumble bee queens that emerge early from hibernation early in the years. The queen requires plenty of food to locate a suitable place to nest and starts laying eggs.

As I write this, in mid-January, there is are two manzanita2 shrubs in my backyard that have buds on them. Black-tailed bumble bees visit my garden in late winter, but they usually focus on the ceanothus shrubs. Ceanothus species bloom early as well, but they bloom longer than the manzanitas.

I think that the bumble bee in the top set of photos was a queen because of her large size. A considerably smaller Black-tailed female was active around the shrubs during the same visit; her size made it more likely that she was a worker. She was moving so fast among the manzanita flowers that I could not get a good photograph.

Black-tailed bumble bee (female, with pollen she has collected on the tibia of her hind legs) resting on a Coast Morning Glory Flower. This bumble bee has a partially yellow face, yellow band behind the eyes (scutum), followed by a black wing band, a yellow scutellum. Abdomen: first terga is yellow, followed by black bands and yellow band(s) again at the end of the abdomen, which is partially obscured in the photo.
Black-tailed bumble bee (female, with pollen she has collected on the tibia of her hind legs) resting on a Coast Morning Glory Flower. This bumble bee has a partially yellow face, yellow band behind the eyes (scutum), followed by a black wing band, a yellow scutellum. Abdomen: first terga is yellow, followed by black bands and yellow band(s) again at the end of the abdomen, which is partially obscured in the photo.
Black-tailed bumble bee (female, with pollen she has collected on the tibia of her hind legs) resting on a Coast Morning Glory Flower. This bumble bee has a partially yellow face, yellow band behind the eyes (scutum), followed by a black wing band, a yellow scutellum. Abdomen: first terga is yellow, followed by black bands and yellow band(s) again at the end of the abdomen, which is partially obscured in the photo.
Black-tailed bumble bee (female, with pollen she has collected on the tibia of her hind legs) resting on a Coast Morning Glory Flower. This bumble bee has a partially yellow face, yellow band behind the eyes (scutum), followed by a black wing band, a yellow scutellum. Abdomen: first terga is yellow, followed by black bands and yellow band(s) again at the end of the abdomen, which is partially obscured in the photo.

The Coast Morning Glory flower makes for a good shelter and resting place complete with food for a variety of bee species. On April 13, 2023, I was hiking on the Sumac trail in Rancho Potrero Open Space3 when I encountered a Black-tailed bumble bee (female) resting on a flower. She has already gathered lots of pollen as evidenced by the full basket on her visible tibia.

  1. Bombus melanopygus, Bumble Bees of the Western United States. USDA Forest Service and the Pollinator Partnership. Xerces website page accessed on January 13, 2025, (PDF pp. 61-64). ↩︎
  2. Arctostaphylos ‘Howard McMinn.’ Waterwise Garden Planner for Southern California. Chino Basin Water Conservation District. Website page accessed January 13, 2025. ↩︎
  3. Dos Vientos and Rancho Potrero Open Spaces, Conejo Open Space Foundation. COSF website page accessed January 13, 2025. ↩︎

By S. Felton

S. Felton is a writer, photographer and amateur naturalist.

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