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...
The pest controller is coming to kill the bees I was called out to this address, 2nd May, late morning, to suggest what to do with an active bee nest in the garden. It was in an area which was to be part of a lawn, with the whole garden about to be landscaped. The...
Ptinus sexpunctatus 6 spotted spider beetle not a welcome visitor to Red Mason bee nests! I found several of these beetles when cleaning out an orchard solitary bee nest box, containing Red mason and leafcutter bees. I do not know how they arrive whether they fly in...
Easter Blue tit eggs and easter Red mason bee cocoons I hope the Blue tits fare better this year than last year 2016 I notice that this female has found a tennis ball as the female did last year! I wonder if it is the same female or even the same tennis ball? Easter...
Ivy a magnet for garden birds Something caught my eye the other morning moving around my raised beds. I waited and saw this single fledging Robin. It was just a few yards from a nest I watched the female make, and then watched the two parents busy to -ing and fro -ing...
This is not a bee hotel! It is a solitary bee nest box with observation windows! In the film you will see, besides 6 different solitary bee species, a Coelioxys cuckoo bee and not often seen or filmed, its larva with egg crushing or larva killing mandibles. I watched...
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