(TM) Our bumblebees are having an average year so far, but one in particular is having a great start to 2017: the Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) with counts up by 350% across our monitoring scheme transects! What’s even more interesting is that this species may be trying to squeeze in a 2nd generation this year – something only typically observed in southern England or continental Europe. We’ve gotten numerous reports of males in past two weeks, but it’d be great to see if queens are on now on the wing too…as always, please submit your records (goo.gl/Igb6Ik) or even better, get involved with our monitoring scheme (goo.gl/qlLQx4)!  (Extract from ‘Monitoring Ireland’s insects.)