British & Irish Bumblebees

...with a few minor quibbles. Changing the preferred names (English vs scientific) renders the ‘all species’ chart unusable (screen goes all black on iPhone and all white on iPad), presumably because the ‘all species’ chart doesn’t list the English names, which I think it should, given that the vast majority of users will always use the vernacular names. The text mentions detailed anatomical structures which (as far I can tell) aren’t defined within the app. All that being said, it’s still a very useful app.

Downloaded this app tonight and I can't wait to use it for real. It's features are great. The illustrations are very good. Pics and video look great and will be really useful to me for the species that I haven't seen before. The best feature for me is the ability to compare similar species side-by-side. If you like bees get this app you won't be disappointed.

Fantastic app. Loads of information and videos etc. A little bit pricy but well worth it .

Firstly, I am not an experienced bee watcher and have only recently developed an interest. My limited knowledge has been gained from various publications including the 3rd edition of Bumblebees (O.E. Prys-Jones & S.A. Corbet) and the Field Guide to the Bumblebees of Great Britain & Ireland (M. Edwards & M. Jenner). Both are excellent publications and I hoped that NatureGuides App would be of a similar standard. This is a review of the PRO version. As a bird watcher, I already own several of the NatureGuides publications & Apps and regard them as producers of high quality, detailed products. My initial reaction was one of disappointment as the Home page seemed light in content. A panel on the left with Common, Scarce & Cuckoo Bumblebees, and a panel on the right with numerous images of the selected bee. However, a bit of exploring reveals the true content of the App. Select a Bumblebee from the left panel and the details are immediately displayed on the right. This includes artistic representations, photographs, video clips, map and description. On the top bar, a tab will present you with artistic representations of all Bumblebees, another tab allows you to compare species side-by-side (great for studying the finer details) and a third tab confusingly labelled as three dots (...) This turns out to be my only criticism, three dots may mean more content but surely a named tab would be better? Open it up, and a detailed 'booklet' from 'Bumblebees' by DV Alford is there to read. This includes an Introduction and articles on hibernation, Colony Initiation & Life, Breeding etc. Very comprehensive and detailed in content and an enjoyable read. The more I used the App, the more impressed I became. I found it a lot easier to ID Bumblebees using the images within it than the excellent reference books. I do not feel that it replaces the books instead, it is a perfect companion to them. More suited to the iPad, it is still very useful on the iPhone and has been used successfully in the field. A bit expensive but this is a quality App and you get what you pay for. If you are the slightest bit interested in Bumblebees, I would recommend you get this and appreciate it for what it is - the best in its class!

response required

Total disappointment! The app just vanishes and re- starts every time I use it. I've not managed to get further than the index page yet. The support link takes me to a page with no mention of this app that I could see.