Bug FAQLarge Garden Bumble Bee
Bombus ruderatus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae
Also called: Large Garden Humble-bee, Large Garden (Ruderal) Bumblebee, Ruderal Bumblebee, Variably-banded Bumblebee
The large garden bumble bee is about 22 mm long in queens and 15-16 mm in workers and males. It is black with two yellow bands on the thorax and a thin yellow band on the abdomen, and it has a long face and tongue for deep flowers. It lives in flower-rich meadowlands across Europe and north Africa, nests underground, and feeds on plants such as Fabaceae, Alstroemeriaceae and Rosaceae.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It has a long face and tongue suited for long-tubed flowers.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Queens reach about 22 mm, workers about 16 mm, and males about 15 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It prefers large, flower-rich meadow areas with many long-corolla plants. Most nests are built underground.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
In Argentina it commonly feeds on plants from the Fabaceae, Alstroemeriaceae and Rosaceae families. Newly emerged queens eat more pollen than the smaller males.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Queens may return to their original nest site and evaluate it before starting a new colony. When queens mate with several males, the resulting colonies tend to have more males than females.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Foraging resources need to be available from April through September. Males usually appear before the new queens.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to Europe and north Africa.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is often confused with Bombus hortorum because both are similar in size and have two yellow bands on a black body. The males of the two species also have comparable genital structures.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 2 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Indiana, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants does the large garden bumble bee visit?
It commonly feeds on Fabaceae, Alstroemeriaceae and Rosaceae species.
Source: Wikipedia
When are they active during the year?
They need pollen and nectar sources from April to September, and males emerge before new queens.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I tell it apart from similar bees?
Look for the specific pattern of two yellow bands on the thorax and a thin band on the abdomen; also note that its male genitalia resemble those of Bombus hortorum.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Apidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombus_ruderatus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.