Ivy Bees in Sussex

[eucera]

Originally Posted by exo

Guess it's a good chance it was an Ivy Bee then,
I'll see if I can see any more this weekend.

Not sure I get the nesting sites thing, surely those red-earth banks were always there,
if they are mining-bee attractive why aren't they used by the other native species already.

Or is there some specific Ivy Bee requirement?, otherwise there are always
excess mining-bee nesting sites.

Think maybe I just did some circular-logic

Ivy Bees are active very late in the year so it is unlikely that one would notice activity of other bees and/or wasps at the nesting sites at the same time of year. Ian Yarrow (writing in 1935) noted no less than 35 species of bee and wasp using a 5x5metre patch of bare ground on Lytchett Heath. In my experience, suitable nesting sites for many bees and wasps is often a major limiting factor in their local distribution.

Ideally, Ivy bees like a sandy soil but they will also use other soil types as well (I have found them in wheel ruts at the Chalk grassland reserve at Martin Down NNR in Hants.). It is also important that the vegetation (if any at all) is very short and able to get full sun

[exo]

Well the sun's almost over now

Did see some more Ivy Bees this weekend - possibly the same one
at the edge of the extent of it's flying range maybe ?
Couldn't get a better picture - it was far too busy.

Was trying to get a honey bee picture taken at the same time,
to answer Geoff F's question, i.e. honey bees are significantly smaller,
but all I had was this fuzzy image.

Can anyone tell me if this is a honey bee variant, or some other bee ?

[Matt Smith]

Honey Bee