The NatureSpot Photo of the Month for February is this image of a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, taken by NatureSpot contributor Barbara Cooper. More...

Although it's now officially spring, February has not been a kind month for insects. Even so, on the rare warmer days the first bees emerged, and as usual, the Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, was the first to be out and about. Barbara Cooper photographed this queen foraging on the 3rd of February but it will be a few weeks until the workers emerge from the new nests. After that they'll keep going up until the end of September, when a new crops of queens has emerged and dispersed to hibernate through the winter and start to cycle off again next year. here's to spring 2026! 

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