Annual honesty (Lunaria annua), Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) and Hedge garlic (Alliara petiolata) were all blooming last week, which is great for the increasing numbers of pollinators I saw flying around.
As alluded to above, more insects were prominent throughout last week compared to earlier in the month. I saw my first male Orange-tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) and undisturbed Seven-spot ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata) of the year.
Yet more species of bee were buzzing about too; I observed female Early bumblebees (Bombus pratorum) one Hairy-footed flower (Anthophora plumipes) bee queen, along with several female Red-tailed (Bombus lapidarius) bumblebees.
A great Bumblebee ID guide can be viewed at Blooms for Bees; this website also includes ways to encourage bees into your garden.
Then on Thursday, as I was clearing wildflower seedlings from a path, I noticed a beautiful redhead resting next to me.
I recognized it was a bee but was initially unsure of the species. Upon further investigation, via Google lens, I discovered it was a female Tawny mining bee (Andrena fulva).
Given the place I saw the bee, I was unable to locate it’s nest, in fact it may have flown in from another garden anyway. Their burrow is usually located in lawns (sometimes flower beds); identifiable from a mound of earth with a hole at the top for the entrance. Often described as having a volcano like appearance it can be differentiated from ants nests which are flatter and have no distinguishable hole at the summit. After several weeks these mounds are no where to be found, so they can be left undisturbed without any worry of damage to lawns.
These solitary bees (which do not sting) can be seen between April and June in gardens and parkland as well as along the edges of fields and orchards.
The appearance of these beautiful bees coincides with the flowing of Cherry (Prunus), Pear (Pyrus), Hawthorn (Crataegus), Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), Maple (Acer), Willow (Sallows) and Apple (Malus) trees, along with other plants such as Buttercups (Ranunculus) and Dandelions (Taraxacum). Nectar and Pollen from these blooms is collected for the bee larvae that develop in the nest beneath the ground. Once the young become pupa, they continue to hibernate through winter to eventually emerge the following spring.
Males are smaller than the female Tawny bees and are a dull brown colour. They do not take any part in creating nests or rearing the young, the females will undertake these jobs alone.
Bee in the Moment 