Foraging queen Bombus hortorums and their nests in my wildlife garden I have had several Bombus hortorum nests in my garden nest boxes over the years. Every single one, including the two shown here, was “wax mothed”! by Aphomia sociella. None had the...
Pink rose petals for this leafcutter bee’s cell! I saw this pink blur out of the corner of my eye and investigated to find this beautiful pink rose petalled nest inside my solitary bee nest box, made by what is probably a patchwork leafcutter bee (Megachile...
Win a Nurturing Nature Solitary Bee Observation Box Simply take a photograph of pollinators: bees, wasps or hoverflies and submit to the Buzz Club….free entry, read below. A Hidden Buzz The theme for this July’s Buzz Club competition is ‘hidden or...
Ichneumonid wasp investigating screw in solitary bee nest box! I saw this Ichneumonid wasp (Ephialtes manifestator?) using her antennae to feel the outside wooden casing of my orchard solitary bee nest box. This behaviour I have seen used by many other parasitoid...
Another fascinating talk by local naturalist George Pilkington, this time focussing on the disturbing disappearance of our bees, including loss of forage, loss of habitat, use of nest boxes/ sites, diseases, natural pests/predators and neonicotinoids. June 18 11am....
Melittobia acasta is a parasitoid of solitary bees When I saw this, I was amazed at the tiny size of the gap that this determined parasitoid wasp was in entering the mud sealed nesting cavity of a Red Mason (Osmia bicornis) bee. If left unchecked it and its offspring...
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