A great day out at the Hive at Kew Gardens If you get the chance to visit the splendid gardens at Kew this year and possibly next year, you must visit the award winning Hive. I was n’t sure what to expect as I approached this huge gleaming ‘see...
Probably Osmia leaiana or a ‘pesto bee!’ A medium sized summer bee which has a bright orange pollen collecting brush (scopa) on her underside abdomen. It is also known as the Orange-vented Mason bee. As she does not use pieces of leaf (Leafcutter bee) or...
Gasteruption jaculator solitary wasp checks out my nest boxes This is a presumed Gasteruption jaculator solitary wasp. What a great name, I wonder what it is based upon? Its another new species I have noticed in the garden since I had my boring lawn ripped out and a...
Kew Gardens take possession of award winning wild bee nest boxes Nurturing Nature Bumblebee nest boxes formed part of the huge and impressive “Hive” as well as being used elsewhere at Kew for bumblebee research by Dr. Hauke Koch ” The bumblebee...
Red Mason bee Osmia bicornis, from egg, larva to cocoon Unlike bumblebees and honeybees, which live in a social nest together as a family and work as such for the benefit of their siblings, Red Mason bees (Osmia bicornis) are just one species in a much larger family...
First ever wool carder bees in garden and nest boxes! The wool carder bee, (Anthidium manicatum), arriving in my wildlife garden absolutely took me by surprise. It was the first time I had noticed them. I was even more surprised when I found several females sleeping...
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