Solitary bees have many enemies. See some for yourself

From cuckoo wasps to cuckoo bees, tiny mites and even a fly all pests of solitary bees. Many of these filmed are sneaky and fast. Whilst the female bee is out they will sneak in, lay their egg and dart out quickly.

 

Coelioxys bee Nurturing Nature

Then simply hang around waiting for their next opportunity. The mite pest hitches a ride from a flower to the nest. These were all filmed when I was using the same nest box.

Sapyga quinquepunctata sting used as ovipositor to penetrate cell wall

Have a peek at other solitary bee enemies.

“All my articles and videos, available free, are funded by my presentations and sales of award-winning bumblebee nest boxessolitary bee boxes,  and wormeries. Please help by spreading the word and forwarding this link to your friends and colleagues. https://nurturing-nature.co.uk  Thank you” George Pilkington

You will see a Monodontomerus wasp, a Sapyga quinquepunctata wasp?, (where do they get these names from? But a great name eh?!!) a Coelioxys cuckoo bee, a Cacoxenus indagator fly, a ruby tailed Chrysis bee, a Pteromalus apum/venutus? wasp and some Chaetodactylus osmiae pollen mites inside a red mason bee cell!

For info and link to buy an excellent book Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland by Steven Falk

An extremely useful resource supports this book by a special website feature within Steve Falk’s Flickr website which furnishes extra photos and other useful resources to assist with identification.

Solitary Bees book by Ted Benton

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