Some bees...

[Nick Smith]

Some I know, some I don't

This one I don't know..

I decided to place a log in the garden, with holes drilled in it to try to attract some insects, these bees were interested but to be honest I don't know if they actually nested or not.





These I do..

Taken in my garden in May





Taken in March on the Cornish coast path between Mousehole and Lamorna Cove.

[Jason Green]

Osmia, Andrena haemorrhoa and A. cineraria for me.

[Nick Smith]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

Osmia, Andrena haemorrhoa and A. cineraria for me.

Thank you, the log experiment will be moving into a new phase soon as we are moving. We are thinking of taking the log with us as well as another log or two that Ectemnius wasps live in. That was a successful experiment too. We aren't moving far. Only 10 miles.

Having thought about it, I suppose there aren't any laws preventing me from moving them are there?

Cheers, Nick.

[Nick Smith]

I suppose I ought to add my Ivy mining bees too



That reminds me, Peggy and I were on a another trip, we saw a bee that looked like it was wearing pantaloons on it's hind legs. I didn't have my camera so sorry, no photo's.

Any ideas as to what they are? We refer to them as pantaloon bees at the moment, it has a ring to it

Thanks, Nick.

[Jason Green]

Going back to the first Andrena - there's another one I often get the name mixed-up with - so I can't remember if it's haemorrhoa I mean or the one I can't recollect...

No, I doubt there's a law against moving the log. Is this still in Suffolk? In some instances depending on species, certain local habitat conditions may be needed for their continued breeding. This probably only concerns a few of the more locallised ones though.

[JRsbugs]

The second bee isn't Andrena haemorrhoa, that has orange hind tibia.

Andrena nitida looks more like it.

For the pantaloon bee look at Andrena hattorfiana.

[runnerwill]

Agree with nitida for the second, surely Dasypoda hirtipes has to be a contender for pantaloon wearing bee?!

[JRsbugs]

Originally Posted by runnerwill

Agree with nitida for the second, surely Dasypoda hirtipes has to be a contender for pantaloon wearing bee?!

Dasypoda hirtipes was the one I was thinking of!

Some bees do however gather a huge pollen load giving the impression of pantaloons.

[Nick Smith]

Originally Posted by JRsbugs

The second bee isn't Andrena haemorrhoa, that has orange hind tibia.

Andrena nitida looks more like it.

For the pantaloon bee look at Andrena hattorfiana.

Thanks Mr. Bugs,

after googling this we agreed that the bee was more furry like a mining bee but with furry hind legs.

afraid it was quite a while ago so we can't really be more specific than that, but will hopefully get the opportunity to photograph them in the future.

Thanks to all for the responses.

Regards,

Teddy and Peggy

[Nick Smith]

Originally Posted by runnerwill

Agree with nitida for the second, surely Dasypoda hirtipes has to be a contender for pantaloon wearing bee?!

Thanks, yes this is the one, definitely. Thanks to Dreamer for this great image from the Gallery.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pi...MG_7959wab.jpg

We were walking in late July at Lakenheath Warren in Suffolk. We saw some holes in the ground, as we approached saw something pop back into the holes. We decided to stop and wait and see what surfaced. There were about 3 or 4 nests all close together, as we waited the bees became braver and eventually popped out, even coming right out and sunning themselves near the nest hole. Peggy put her finger down near one, it didn't dive back into it's nest, in fact the opposite, the bee climbed onto Peggy's finger and was quite happy sitting there as we observed the fancy bee. The bee then took off, circled to get it's bearings for a few seconds before flying off to hunt for it's lunch.