WARNING – This post contains a heavy bee content.
I know only too well that not everyone is so besotted with bees as I am, so you are warned.
In fact, I am not sure I know myself what drives me to wait with baited breath in the hot sun beside a hedge of ivy. just because I want to catch a glimpse of Colletes hederae.
There are lots of honey bees and other insects, like the ladybird that catch my eye and I click out of restlessness.
Butterflies are just as much drawn to the nectar source as the bees, but they are not what I am looking for today.
The trouble is when I cannot see the bee I am looking for I get distracted by the other visitors.
I haven’t seen as many chafers this year but there is one on the ivy. Click.
The cute bumble on the toadflax gets her picture taken too!
And I cannot help marvelling at the best bee mimic I have ever seen. It only lacks a pair of long antenna to be just about spot on.
Just as I was wondering if I was missing them, I saw my first, and I think probably a male Colletes hederae with his long antenna.
And there are more, a female this time with plenty of pollen on her hind legs. They do not fly until late summer and should stay around into October. They gather pollen mainly from ivy which seems an odd strategy but as it is late flowering they will have less competition from other solitary bees (but not from honey bees) and perhaps less problems with parasites. They are ground nesting bees, digging tunnels often in large groups. I have never found a site near me but there must be one around as there is plenty of ivy.
I am delighted to see them again and I won’t be passing any ivy now on our walks without checking it out. I don’t understand why it gives me a thrill to find them, but it does.
It is worth the wait to see them again, even though my nearest and dearest find it all rather strange.
a french garden 