ONE of Britain’s rarest and most endangered bumblebees has been discovered on a Worcestershire nature reserve.

The severely threatened brown-banded carder bee (Bombus humilis) is usually only found in small pockets in the south-east of England but was recently discovered near to Stourport-on-Severn.

Wilden Marsh, owned by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, is a series of wet meadows and woodland the floodplain of the river Stour.

The bees favour grasslands and meadows but are often found on brownfield sites due to the loss of the habitat in many areas. Although usually found in the south of England, they have also recently been discovered on Hartlebury Common and on an urban site in Herefordshire.

Wildlife trust member Brett Westwood said: “The brown-banded carder bee isn’t quite a unicorn but, in Worcestershire, it comes pretty close. Finding this rare ginger teddy bear of the bee world at Wilden Marsh was one of the highlights of the year and is a vivid endorsement of the management by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.

“Careful grazing of the wet meadows has produced a succession of flowers throughout the summer and early autumn including bird’s foot trefoil and comfrey, which the bees particularly like, and also the grassy tussocks in which they build their nests. “At a time when bumblebees are in decline across the British landscape, to have this beautiful bee thriving in the county is very heartening.” It’s not easy to distinguish the brown-banded carder bee from common carder bees but they have a brownish band across the abdomen and lack black hairs on the side of the abdomen. Queen bees are about 1.5cm (half-an-inch) long and workers are slightly smaller.

To help Worcestershire Wildlife Trust protect our natural habitats and wildlife, visit worcswildlifetrust.co.uk for information about their reserves, work and becoming a member.