The Garden bumblebee was recorded in several places in Tórshavn in 2022 by Árant Ziska. This is the first time that this species has been registered in the Faroe Islands.

On 10 August 2021, Jóna Danielsen found a Tree bumblebee on the road in Tórshavn. This is the first record of this species in the Faroe Islands. In 2022, the species was quite common in large parts of Tórshavn.

Dánial Jespersen found this dark Buff-tailed bumblebee in Tvøroyri 27.05.2017. This is the first time that this species has been registered in the Faroe Islands.

Bumblebee Bombus lucorum (Linnaeus, 1761) infested with mites

Bombus lucorum queen heavily infested with mites

When we removed the mites of the queen, there were 811 in total

The Bombus lucorum male did not have as many mites as the queen, but still he had more then enough to kill him.

Elias Joensen lives on Reynsgøta in Argir, and his house is in 90 meters hight. The other day as he worked in his garden, he found a bumblebee nest from last summer, where a Bombus lucorum bumblebee had a stay. A bumble bee nest consists of small "pots" where the bumblebee nurture its descendants. The nest is used for only one year.
It will be very interesting to see, if any of these bumblebees have survived the Faroese winter.

Bumblebee Bombus pratorum (Linnaeus, 1761)

The first bumblebee that we know of, was caught in the Faroe Islands in 1887. Since then there have been some very few observations from some of the different islands. Lately there has been an increasing amount of bumblebee observations, and even if we have no proof, everything interprets, that they breed here.
Bumblebee has breed in the Faroes in the past, especially in the Viking Age, when the climate was warmer then now.
In Iceland they had 3 different species of bumblebees, but this year the variety of species have increased with 2 new breeding species, counting 5 in all. In Shetland they have 6 different species.
The different species of bumblebee looks different as well as they vary in size and colour. Some are yellow and white striped and other are black and red behind. They do have one thing in common, they are built strong, they hum and they are hairy.
I am collecting all information’s about bumblebees in the Faroes, and in that connection I am interested in hearing from people who see or have seen bumblebees, perhaps have a photo or even might have caught one.
I am interested in any kind of information!

Bumblebee Bombus pratorum (Linnaeus, 1761)

Updated 14. July 2010: I was nearly bombarded with information’s from all over the country after the bulletin about bumblebees was spread in the news in the Faroese television "Dagur & Vika" 06. July. Everybody believed, they had or had seen bumblebees in their garden. Some were right, although most of the “bumblebees” showed to be Eristalis intricarius. Even if I am far from finished double-checking all the information’s, I can conclude, that bumblebees are breeding in the Faroe Islands, and I am of course still interested in any kind of information’s about this matter.

Hoverfly Eristalis intricarius (Linnaeus, 1758)

Update 04. February 2012: The bumblebee species Bombus lucorum (Linnaeus, 1761) was observed breeding in the Faroe Islands for the first time in 2011. The breeding locations were in Strendur and Runavík in Eysturoy.