Ivy bee

Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae)

Few bees in the UK are cuter than the diminutive Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae), which is coming into its own as autumn progresses. As its name suggests, this specialist feeds primarily on the pollen of Common Ivy (Hedera helix), which flowers from September to November. However, it will also visit Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris, as above), Prickly Sow-thistle (Sonchus asper) and other autumn-flowering blooms for nectar. A new arrival to the islands, it was first recorded in the UK in 2001. In fact, it was only described to science in 1993! Now, it occurs across the Channel Islands and much of southern England and Wales, primarily in built-up areas and along the coast, and continues to extend its range northwards. A newly-emerged female's combination of strongly buff-banded abdomen and orange thorax is distinctive, but males and faded individuals can be trickier to identify. Like other mining bees, this one nests underground, typically digging into lightly vegetated, south-facing banks. Though it's a solitary species, it can occur in large nest aggregations where proper conditions exist; there's an area on a sandy heath near here with upwards of a thousand individuals! We have regular visitors to our garden despite a lack of suitable nest sites, so there must be a good nesting location nearby. Creating a "bee bank" in the garden is definitely on the to do list!