The warmer weather is starting to bring out the bees – not so much the common honey bees kept in the beekeeper’s hives, but our native bees. You might have seen the large queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee buzzing around desperate for some nectar from the few early-season flowers that are out now. With their round furry bodies, bumblebees are found in almost all gardens pollinating the flowers. They are even more important for pollinating agricultural crops and wild flowers. They are social animals with the whole colony (up to over 1,000 individuals) living in a single nest, but each autumn they all die except for young queens who find a nice quiet place to hibernate over winter. In the spring, the queens seek out a new nest and lay eggs to produce the first of the workers who will feed the young and maintain the nest.
We have one species of honey bee in this country and around 25 species of bumblebee, but by far the most numerous of our bees are the solitary bees with well over 200 species. They are generally rather smaller and, as the name suggests, they do not form colonies. One of these solitary bees is the delightfully named Hairy-footed Flower Bee which tends to be seen at this time of year. These are slightly smaller than bumblebees and the sexes are dissimilar, with the males orange-brown and the females mostly black, as shown here. They usually build a nest in the ground although they will on occasions dig out the soft mortar between bricks.
Several species of bee are parasitic. After seeing another bee making a nest hole and stocking a larder for their larvae, the parasitic bee will enter the nest whilst the owner is off foraging and lay their egg on the food store. When the parasitic larva hatches it eats the egg or larva of the host bee and then consumes all of the nectar and pollen that the host has supplied. One such parasite is the Sharp-tailed Bee which targets species of Leaf-cutter Bees and Hairy-footed Flower Bees. They can often be seen hanging around bee hotels that keen naturalists put up in their gardens to provide a home for various species of solitary bee. The sharp tail for which the bee is named is used for the slitting open the cells in which the host has laid her egg.
Apart from their amazing variety, bees are also very valuable as pollinators of crops – worth around £700 million to the UK economy. Nearly three quarters of globally important commercial crops depend on insect pollination, mainly by bees. Ironically, modern farming practices (particularly the widespread use of pesticides) result in a shortage of these essential pollinators on most farms. Organic farms have around 75% more wild bees than other farms as they use fewer pesticides and have a greater area of wildflower margins. Many people worry about being stung by bees, which can be a painful experience and, for allergic individuals, possibly very serious. However, for most people there are no serious complications. Male bees cannot sting as they lack the required anatomy and no species of bee will attack you unless they or their nests are being attacked.
The warmer weather is starting to bring out the bees – not so much the common honey bees kept in the beekeeper’s hives, but our native bees. You might have seen the large queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee buzzing around desperate for some nectar from the few early-season flowers that are out now. With their round furry bodies, bumblebees are found in almost all gardens pollinating the flowers. They are even more important for pollinating agricultural crops and wild flowers. They are social animals with the whole colony (up to over 1,000 individuals) living in a single nest, but each autumn they all die except for young queens who find a nice quiet place to hibernate over winter. In the spring, the queens seek out a new nest and lay eggs to produce the first of the workers who will feed the young and maintain the nest.
We have one species of honey bee in this country and around 25 species of bumblebee, but by far the most numerous of our bees are the solitary bees with well over 200 species. They are generally rather smaller and, as the name suggests, they do not form colonies. One of these solitary bees is the delightfully named Hairy-footed Flower Bee which tends to be seen at this time of year. These are slightly smaller than bumblebees and the sexes are dissimilar, with the males orange-brown and the females mostly black, as shown here. They usually build a nest in the ground although they will on occasions dig out the soft mortar between bricks.
Several species of bee are parasitic. After seeing another bee making a nest hole and stocking a larder for their larvae, the parasitic bee will enter the nest whilst the owner is off foraging and lay their egg on the food store. When the parasitic larva hatches it eats the egg or larva of the host bee and then consumes all of the nectar and pollen that the host has supplied. One such parasite is the Sharp-tailed Bee which targets species of Leaf-cutter Bees and Hairy-footed Flower Bees. They can often be seen hanging around bee hotels that keen naturalists put up in their gardens to provide a home for various species of solitary bee. The sharp tail for which the bee is named is used for the slitting open the cells in which the host has laid her egg.
Apart from their amazing variety, bees are also very valuable as pollinators of crops – worth around £700 million to the UK economy. Nearly three quarters of globally important commercial crops depend on insect pollination, mainly by bees. Ironically, modern farming practices (particularly the widespread use of pesticides) result in a shortage of these essential pollinators on most farms. Organic farms have around 75% more wild bees than other farms as they use fewer pesticides and have a greater area of wildflower margins. Many people worry about being stung by bees, which can be a painful experience and, for allergic individuals, possibly very serious. However, for most people there are no serious complications. Male bees cannot sting as they lack the required anatomy and no species of bee will attack you unless they or their nests are being attacked.