The Parasitic Species on our Coastal Cliffs.

The crumbling cliffs and resulting landslip habitat of our south-west coast is perhaps a stronghold in Southern England of two parasitic species of solitary bees. Firstly the large and flightless Oil Beetle, Meloe proscarabaeus.  Its lifestyle is referred to in my earlier post of the 30th April 2017 entitled  Oil Beetles.The second species is the Dotted Bee-fly Bombylius discolor. This bee-fly also has a strong connection with solitary bees and wasps. Its lifecycle is explained in my post of the 1st April 2016 Bombylius discolor.  

Both these  were encountered yesterday on the cliffs.

Solitary Bees Busy on the Fruit Blossoms.

The few days of settled sunny weather has seen many bees out and about.In particular foraging solitary bees on the early flowering plants.Our plum tree is now in full bloom and female Yellow-legged Mining Bees Andrena flavipes,were busy gathering pollen,as seen below in the first two photos.The third individual is as yet unidentified.

Bumblebees Busy in the Winter Garden.

The first sunny day of 2020 and Buff-tailed Bumblebees are buzzing in my garden around the flowering Mahonia shrub.Along with other flowering plants at this time of year this nectar enables species such as the Buff-tailed to remain active throughout the winter together with the mild temperatures in the south of England.The following photo's are of  a worker bumblebee,probably one of up to one hundred at a winter colony maintained by the queen bumblebee. 

A Megachilidae Bee on Meganissi.

A solitary bee seen on the Greek Island of Meganissi in May was this rather demonic looking bee.The best identification I can make is a member of the Megachilidae family of bees,more commonly known as Mason,Leafcutter,and Resin bees.Further enquires have found it to be subgenus chalicodoma.

Another Sight of the Violet Carpenter Bee.

On my trips to the Greek Islands I sometimes have been lucky enough to see the Violet Carpenter Bee.It is mainly found in southern Europe and the queen in particular is unmistakable being perhaps one of the largest bee species.

Nomads Out & About..

At this time of the year Nomad bees are about,and this one was seen in my garden yesterday.It is considered to be Nomad flava and is widespread,particularly in southern England.More information on this species can be found here.

First Bumblebee Sighting of the year.

We are now enjoying  a few days of  mild and settled weather and spring it seems is just around the corner.Therefore I was pleased to see my first bumblebee of the year,a Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) busily buzzing  in and out of our garden hellebores this morning.

Nomada fucata (Painted Nomad Bee)

Nomada fucata is now widespread in southern England although it was once confined to the Dorset coast.Since the 1970's however this parasitic bee has spread its range to cover the area where its host Andrena flavipes, the Yellow-legged Mining Bee is found. This area covers all of southern England as far north as the Midlands, and south Wales. 

A Grey-patch on the Bluebells.

This female Grey-patched Mining Bee Andrena nitida, was seen today exploring our Bluebells.From late March to mid- July this species is widespread in southern England although peak numbers tend to be in the spring.There are about 65 species of Andrena in Britain and all nest in the soil.

Hairy-foots in the Garden.

At this time of the year the Barberry bush is a riot of colour and a firm favourite with bees.Today one of the many visitors to its abundant flowers was a female Hairy-footed Flower Bee Anthophora plumipes. This species is a common sight in the south of England and can readily be seen in our gardens. Hairy-footed flower bees often nest in the soft mortar of walls and sometimes in soil.
The females are black and resemble small bumblebees, with orange or yellow hairs on their hind legs.The males are rusty brown in colour and have long hairs on their legs and feet.These features can be seen below.

Sun Shines and Another Springtime Bee.

A look at the Hairy-footed Flower Bee Anthophora plumipes today as the sun came out for the first time in days.This male was seen in my garden feeding on the perennial wallflower 'bowles mauve'.

Reviving a Tired Bumblebee.

Following yesterdays sunny spell of weather today has turned cloudy and cold. A walk in the garden led to the discovery of a queen Red-tailed bumblebee seemingly in distress at the base of our full flowering barberry bush.Of course the bee was fine as it is just having  a rest.However she could well do with some sort of reviving in order to continue her pollen collecting.So a small mixture of clean water and sugar proved to be just the ticket. Almost immediately she moved onto the saucer and seemed to enjoy the feed.Revived she then crawled off and disappeared into the border.

Further information on reviving a bee can be found here.

  

Spring Species Now Appearing.

Now that the temperatures are slowly on the way up and there is at last more in the way of sunshine an increasing number of springtime bees are to be seen in the garden.Yesterday this female Yellow-legged Mining Bee,Andrena flavipes, found a sunny spot on a bamboo leaf.This is a common solitary bee here at this time of year and is restricted to the south of Britain.
Also on show was a male Andrena bee of a species that I was unable to identify.

A male Andrena,species not known

Bees Respond to the Spring Sunshine.

Spring was in the air today albeit briefly and at my local copse quite a few queen bumblebees were on the move.Among the several Buff and White-tailed bumbles seen flying around was this Early Bumblebee.It is my first sighting of the year of this attractive bumblebee.She was very interested in the moss which covered a tree stump.

The Belated Spring Weather Brings Out the Bees.

Good to see this Queen Tree Bumblebee(Bombus hypnorum) in my local copse yesterday.Let's hope that the spring weather is here to stay and our bees can get down to work.

Oil Beetles.

These large flightless beetles are dependent on the solitary bee to complete its lifecycle.The female will dig a nesting burrow close to a bee colony.The hatched larvae known as tringulins, will then climb up to reach flowers where their hook- like forelegs enable the larvae to attach themselves to visiting bees.The aim is to be taken by the bee to its nesting burrow where it feeds on the bees' egg and pollen store.Finally it pupates in the burrow over the winter and emerges as an adult beetle the following year.

Meloe proscarabaeus  or the Oil Beetle as it is commonly known gets this name by releasing a pungent oily liquid in defence when threatened.It is suffering a steady decline in population and is currently a BAP species(Biodiversity Action Plan).The female beetle is larger than the male and the following photo shows the difference in size of the sexes.

Nomada goodeniana.

On a sunny patch of bare ground  at the foot of a conifer in my local forest I found several nomad bees busily searching for solitary bee holes in which to lay their eggs.The nomad bee pictured below had just reappeared from under a pine cone where no doubt one such nest was located.This species of nomad bee is Nomada goodeniana seen mainly from April to June.It is a widespread cuckoo bee in the UK and preys on nests of the Andrena nigroaenea- group.It is one of the largest of our Nomada species.

Bees Out in the Spring Sunshine.

We enjoyed spring like weather on Monday with temperatures above the average for this time of year.Consequently all types of insects responded to the warmth and I was pleased to see my first Bee-fly of the year.The Dark-edged Bee-fly or Large Bee-fly (Bombylius major) is common here and mimics a small bumblebee.

Queen bumblebees are also out and about with this Buff-tailed Bumblebee carrying a group of mites in need of a new home.Mites are normally harmless to the bee as they feed on wax,pollen,debris and small insects found in the formers nest.

Gypsy Cuckoo Bumblebee.

The Gypsy Cuckoo Bumblebee Bombus bohemicus, parasites the nest of the White-tailed Bumblebee.It is  widespread in the UK but tends to be more common in the north.

BWARS states that; After emerging from hibernation during April the mated female seeks out  a B. lucorum nest containing a few workers.The female enters the nest and hides until it acquires the nest scent.It then kills or dominates the host queen and begins to lay eggs.Only B. bohemicus male and female eggs are hatched although all work in the colony is done by the host workers. 

Looking Good in the Rain.

This very dapper male Early Bumblebee was spotted yesterday in my local wood resting on a reed leaf waiting for the rain to stop.