Common Carder Bee vs Boreal Bumblebee

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute	Common Carder Bee	Boreal Bumblebee
Scientific Name	Bombus pascuorum	Bombus borealis
Order	Hymenoptera	Hymenoptera
Family	Apidae	Apidae
Size	9-18 mm	12-17 mm
Habitat	Underground	Heathland
Diet	Nectar Feeders	Nectar Feeders
Regions	Western Europe, Central Europe, Northern Europe	Northern Canada, Alaska, boreal regions of the northern United States
Conservation	Least Concern	Least Concern

Common Carder Bee

A fluffy ginger-brown bumblebee that builds nests on the ground surface using moss and grass. It has one of the longest flight seasons of any European bumblebee.

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Did You Know?

Workers 'card' moss fibres over the nest like wool, which gives the species its common name.

Boreal Bumblebee

A medium-sized bumblebee with yellow bands on the thorax and a white-tipped abdomen. It nests underground in abandoned rodent burrows. Workers are efficient foragers in the cool northern climate.

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Did You Know?

This bumblebee has an unusually long tongue for its body size, allowing it to access nectar from deep tubular flowers that other bees cannot reach.