Mediteranian Bee sighting in the uk

[violetcarpenterbee]

Originally Posted by eucera

Will today be the day?? Beautiful sunny "bumblebee" weather down here in Salisbury!

Good hunting

Stuart
ps... LOTS of Xylocopa violacea records pouring in from all over France (except the far north) - Spring is certainly sprung there now

Hi Stuart
Its not sunny here yet, but lets hope it will come out soon. incidently the holes in the tree trunk are about 18mil in dia. hope to get some pics. for you soon.
Derick.

[violetcarpenterbee]

I went up to the tree stump today at 3pm. while I was there I saw 2 bees return to the tree trunk, why have I not pics. you might ask, the reason being they fly in and go into the holes in no time at all and disapear, not giving me time to lift the camera focus in and take a picture, at the moment there are not many flowers out for them to settle on but I will keep trying to get some pics.as I am now certain that they are violet carpenter bees after looking at other pictures on this thread.
Derick.

[Paul mabbott]

Is everyone aware that an asiatic hornet (Vespa velutina has established in France and shifting north? May not survive British winters but ..... Seems to be a serious threat to honeybees and, presumably, bumbles.
Links
Apiculture - Le frelon asiatique Vespa velutina, un nouveau prédateur de l’abeille ?

[eucera]

Vespa velutina is in the Bordeaux area... in fact... one of our BWARS members, who lives in Armagnac and took part in the huge pan-European wasp survey last summer, had them in his traps. He is a bee-keeper, but seems quite relaxed about them

Stuart

[eucera]

Originally Posted by violetcarpenterbee

I went up to the tree stump today at 3pm. while I was there I saw 2 bees return to the tree trunk, why have I not pics. you might ask, the reason being they fly in and go into the holes in no time at all and disapear, not giving me time to lift the camera focus in and take a picture, at the moment there are not many flowers out for them to settle on but I will keep trying to get some pics.

Lets hope the better weather that is forecast for the next couple of days prizes them out, and that you are able to get some good pics

Originally Posted by violetcarpenterbee

as I am now certain that they are violet carpenter bees after looking at other pictures on this thread.

This is the area where we should remain cautious. Although (assuming these ARE Xylocopa (and the evidence suggests they might well be) X. violacea is the most likely suspect, it is by no means the only one. As alluded to above, X. valga (widespread but rare in Europe) is virtually indistinguishable from X. violacea. We also have to bear in mind the possibility that it may be an alien species of some sort. It is only a handful of years ago that Steve Falk found X. virginica (from USA) flying around in Warwickshire, presumably brought in with wooden packing cases by the US military in the area.

I believe your part of Leicestershire is an important national hub in the road haulage industry, and there are large numbers of wooden pallets (of uncertain origin) in various transport yards areound the area. So perhaps.... bees could have come from virtually anywhere.

Lest see what the next couple of days brings, and then perhaps it might be time to get one of our BWARS team to come and have a good look (We have a committee member who works in Leicester)

Best of luck with this! Stuart

[eucera]

Originally Posted by violetcarpenterbee

I went up to the tree stump today at 3pm. while I was there I saw 2 bees return to the tree trunk, why have I not pics. you might ask, the reason being they fly in and go into the holes in no time at all and disapear, not giving me time to lift the camera focus in and take a picture, at the moment there are not many flowers out for them to settle on but I will keep trying to get some pics.

Lets hope the better weather that is forecast for the next couple of days prizes them out, and that you are able to get some good pics

Originally Posted by violetcarpenterbee

as I am now certain that they are violet carpenter bees after looking at other pictures on this thread.

This is the area where we should remain cautious. Assuming these ARE Xylocopa (and the evidence suggests they might well be) and X. violacea is the most likely suspect, it is by no means the only one. As alluded to above, X. valga (widespread but rare in Europe) is virtually indistinguishable from X. violacea. We also have to bear in mind the possibility that it may be an alien species of some sort. It is only a handful of years ago that Steve Falk found X. virginica (from USA) flying around in Warwickshire, presumably brought in with wooden packing cases by the US military in the area.

I believe your part of Leicestershire is an important national hub in the road haulage industry, and there are large numbers of wooden pallets (of uncertain origin) in various transport yards around the area. So perhaps.... bees could have come from virtually anywhere.

Lest see what the next couple of days brings, and then perhaps it might be time to get one of our BWARS team to come and have a good look (We have a committee member who works in Leicester)

Best of luck with this! Stuart

[violetcarpenterbee]

still trying to get pictures of bees,I did not see them at the weekend but the weather was pretty awful. in answer to Steves questions, I suppose the part of leics. I live in could be considered as a central hub for lorries etc. as it is very close to the M1 and there are several lorry parks in the area also it is about 3 miles as the bee flies to east midlands airport which does vast amounts of freight.I would also welcome any expert on bees to come along and have a look,,
regards
Derick

[violetcarpenterbee]

Bees update
Their has not been any activity this week due to to the awlful weather, but the bees will be active again when it reaches about 12c and the sun is shining.Stuart has aranged for a bee expert to come and vist the site to comfirm the identity of the bees,This of course will have to be on a nice day so that the bees will be tempted out.
Hoping for good weather
Derick.

[aeshna5]

Thanks for update- this episode is rivetting- let's hope the outcome is positive- keep us posted!

[violetcarpenterbee]

Finally I have some pictures!!!

Click on the following links to see what I've been on about for the last month or so, lets hope these are clear enough to get confirmation from. I took these this morning 03/03/07

http://www.constella.co.uk/bees/wcb1.jpg

http://www.constella.co.uk/bees/wcb2.jpg

http://www.constella.co.uk/bees/wcb3.jpg

I have got a expect in this area comming today to take a look so will keep you all posted on the findings.

Derick.