Bug FAQTree Bumble Bee
Bombus hypnorum · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae
Also called: New Garden Bumblebee, Tree Bumblebee
Source: Wikipedia
The tree bumblebee has a ginger-colored thorax, black-haired abdomen and a white tail; males may show some ginger hairs on the face and first abdominal segment. It lives near human settlements, builds nests above ground often in bird boxes, and is common across continental Europe and northern Asia but absent from the Mediterranean and southern Italy.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males can have some ginger hairs mixed with black on the face and the first abdominal segment.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Workers are often small, while drones are much larger; queens vary in size.
Source: Wikipedia
Does it bite or sting?
The bee is generally docile but will defend its nest and can sting people who it perceives as a threat.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It often lives close to human settlements. It prefers above-ground nests and frequently uses bird boxes.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It especially prefers the flowers of hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). It also visits many other plants such as rhododendron, cherry, grape hyacinth, blueberry and other Vaccinium species.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Single queens start new nests in March. The first generation matures from mid-May to early July, and a smaller second generation may appear in late summer when conditions allow.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is common from northern France across continental Europe to Kamchatka in eastern Asia. It is not found in the Mediterranean, the steppes of eastern Europe, or south of Tuscany in Italy.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants do they like?
They favor hawthorn and blackthorn flowers but also visit many other flowering plants.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are they found?
They are common across continental Europe and northern Asia but absent from the Mediterranean and southern Italy.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Apidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombus_hypnorum
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.