The garden bumblebee (Bombus hortorum) is a widespread European bumblebee distinguished by an exceptionally long tongue — typically around 15 mm, reaching up to 20 mm — that enables it to reach nectar in deep tubular flowers inaccessible to shorter-tongued species. It is the principal pollinating visitor to common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) in UK populations, accounting for 82–92% of insect visits in a North Yorkshire study, and regularly forages on comfrey, vetches, deadnettles, and red clover. The species ranges across Europe north to 70°N, through northern and central Asia to western Siberia, and was introduced to New Zealand in 1885. Gardeners who grow foxglove, comfrey, or other deep-flowered plants are likely to attract this bee, which uses a trap-lining foraging strategy and visits flowers with high frequency.

Plants this species pollinates · 1

Nectar plants · 2

Native to Europe (from the northern and central Iberian Peninsula north to Scandinavia, east through temperate Asia to western Siberia); introduced to New Zealand in 1885. Also present in southwest Iceland, likely via human-mediated dispersal rather than natural range. Found throughout the British Isles including Orkney and Shetland.