Big B, Little b, what begins with B?

Apparently there are 11 types of bees in the Edinburgh area. Or at least this was according to a poster I was reading in the the doctors waiting room this week. This was part of a list that was supposed to [I presume] to get people outside into nature, but I think they need to sort out their ordering of actual achievability...number one was "watch a heron eat a fish" compared to number six "lie on the grass and watch the clouds"...whilst I've watched many a heron on our waterways I think I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've seen them eat a fish...but anyway I digress.

According to Buglife Scotland [a more reliable source of information], there are over 270 species of bee in the UK [divided amongst 6 families]; with 115 [ish] being found in Scotland. There's only one species of honey bee, 24 species of bumblebees, with the rest being solitary bees.

Our first experience with bees was when we had just moved in. I was enthusiastically cleaning the inside panels of the window frames, when I came across some strange objects on the inside part of the window. Long story short, it turns out they are mason bee cocoons! Mason bees are solitary and Buglife suggests that there are 12 in the UK, with 6 being recorded in Scotland. I'm not sure which species decided to set up home in our window [or indeed, how] but chances are it was a red mason bee (Osmia bicornis).

This summer however there seem to be more than usual [which is obviously great news]. Obviously the wildflowers in the front [and now back] gardens are super beneficial to them. But they've been particularly enjoying a large viburnum (Viburnum tinus 'Lucidum Variegatum'). One afternoon I counted over 40 individuals...and that was only on parts of the bush I could see.

So what's been visiting and how to identify them?

First up is the Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). These are super confusing as the its only the queen that actually has the buff-tail; the workers and males have white tails. I'm not completely convinced as the internet suggests that buff-tailed bumblebees are more of a yellow colour, rather than the orange here... but I couldn't find anything else that was similar on the Bumblebee Conservation Trust website...so if you're a closet bee enthusiast please correct me!

So I think THIS is the queen [it was huge, the size of my thumb];

Buff-tailed Bumbles

and THIS is a worker/male

Buff-tailed Bumbles

Buff-tailed Bumblebees usually nest underground in old rodent holes, usually being established in late autumn. Worker bees can be seen foraging in winter and the queens are one of the first [of the bee species] to emerge in spring, from late February. They are found in most habitats, except the higher upland areas.

Next up is the Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum). I think of these as pretty new, according to The Woodland Trust, they first started arriving in the UK in 2001 [although I'm grudgingly aware that the 'noughties' were not in-fact 10 years ago]. These guys are pretty easy to identify as they have this large ginger 'shrug'/gilet, sleek black body and a fluffy white bahookie. Apparently they like to colonise [bird] nest boxes and can be found in parks, gardens and woodlands. According to the Woodland Trust website they prefer comfrey and bramble flowers as well as fruit trees - I'm hoping they're responsible for our small apple crop this year. The bee on the rightmost photo [below] appears to exhausted after a day of nectar collecting and has passed out in a convenient ox-eye daisy flower.

The Early Bumblebees  (Bombus pratorum) are particularly colourful, with the stereotypical black and yellow stripes that children's literature has prepared you for, although with an additional ginger tail. The photos below are of males [I think], as they were quite small and they had the brighter yellow banding around the middle [differentiating them from the queen and workers respectively]. These bees also like nesting underground and feed on a variety of flowers including soft fruits and borage.

The Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) are the only UK species to be completely brown, although the richness of the colour depends on how long they've been in the sun! Their colour ranges from a ginger to a pale sand, but exposure to the sunshine has a bleaching effect. These guys like ivy, lavender, clover, thyme and dandelions - so I'm a bit surprised I've never really noticed them before - considering how many dandelions we have in spring!

Common Carder

Most UK Honey bees are the domesticated species (Apis mellifera) introduced by bee keepers. I always think these are relatively easy to identify - they look more like wasps or bee-flies than bumblebees. The amber and black banding on their slim-line abdomen/tail are relatively hairless, although they do appear to have hairy armpits. Honeybees have short tongues so they prefer flowers with a flatter, more open design - although the one below seems to be coping with the viburnum as [although more 'cup-shaped'] the flowers are tiny compared to a foxglove.

Honey

This identification is more about guess-work of evidence rather than insect sighting. I think the culprit whose been making holes in my amelanchier leaves is a Patchwork Leafcutter Bee (Megachile centuncularis) as this is a technique they use. Leafcutter bees make their nests in bramble stems, deadwood and bee hotels. They cut these little leaf circles to line the individual cells [containing eggs of the next generation] in their nesting tunnels. Hopefully one day I'll be lucky enough to either see the cutting process or find a nest.

Red-tailed bees (Bombus lapidarius) are one of the most widespread species in the UK, being found in woodland edges, gardens and open countryside. Easily identifiable by their mostly black bodies and fluffy reddish-brown bahookie, this one photographed below is either a queen or a worker, as it lacks the yellow shoulder stripe of the males. They particularly favour thistles, bird's foot trefoil and buddleia - this one is indulging in a spot of knapweed pollen.

Red-tailed

So that's a start of the 115 species...a few more to go! How many types of bee have you seen?

If you're really into bees, the Woodland Trust, Buglife Scotland and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust have some great information and identification guides!