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Tag Archives: Ivy bee

Mapping Ivy bees

29 Thursday Sep 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British bees, Colletes hederae, Ivy bee, Ivy bee colonisation, mapping of Ivy bee, spread of Ivy bee

From its first sighting in Dorset the Ivy bee (Colletes hederae) has spread to cover much of England south of a rough line from Nottingham to Norfolk, with scattered sightings in the north of England and just one verified record in Scotland thus far. There have also been verified sightings around most of coastal Wales, though the rugged Welsh hinterlands remain unconquered by this handsome little bee, as do large parts of inland Devon. Considering the first confirmed record of Colletes hederae in Britain came just 21 years ago, it’s an impressive colonisation effort. You can see the latest map on the NBN Atlas website here, and you can contribute to the BWARS mapping project here.

220929 ivy bees

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Busy buzzing

14 Thursday Oct 2021

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

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bees on Ivy flowers, British bees, Colletes hederae, Ivy bee

Every year I look out for them. Every year I share photos of them, and 2021 is no exception. Here, then, are some of this year’s cohort of Ivy bees, at their burrows and feasting on Ivy flowers.

211014 ivy bees (1)211014 ivy bees (2)211014 ivy bees (3)211014 ivy bees (4)

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305/366 Insecting

31 Saturday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

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British bees, British insects, Buff-tailed bumblebee, Common carder bee, Common Darter, Common earwig, Ivy bee, Ivy bee burrow

Despite the appalling weather – frequent heavy rain and occasional strong winds – we’ve been experiencing over the last couple of weeks, I have managed still to find a few hardy insects, persisting by cunningly finding sheltered places to avoid the worst of the inclement conditions.

201031 buff-tailed bumble
201031 common carder

These bees seem to have the right idea. On the left is a Buff-tailed bumblebee, which I watched emerging from inside the cosy, fluffy duvet of an Old man’s beard seedhead and, on the right, a Common carder that seems to have the same idea and be looking for a place to snuggle down.

201031 earwigs (1)
201031 earwigs (2)

Also looking cosy, these Common earwigs were huddling in the cups of umbellifer seedheads.

201031 common darters

Common darters have still been active in the more sheltered spots during the occasional sunny periods, these at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

201031 ivy bees (1)
201031 ivy bees (2)

The last of this year’s brood of Ivy bees were still feeding their grubs. They had made use of a rabbit scrape to excavate the underground burrows where their eggs are laid, grubs hatch and pupate and will remain until emerging as adult bees next autumn.

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263/366 The Ivy is buzzing

19 Saturday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants

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bees on ivy, bees on Ivy flowers, Colletes hederae, Ivy bee, ivy flowers

One of the highlights for me at this time of year is finding Ivy bees feasting, as you might expect, on the newly opened flowers of Ivy. I blog about these little beauties every year so I won’t go in to their details again, just share my latest photos.

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200919 ivy bees (9)
200919 ivy bees (10)

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257/365 Ivy bees

14 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, insects, nature, plants

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, bees, British bees, Colletes hederae, ivy, Ivy bee, ivy flowers

I heard them before I saw them.

190914 ivy bees (7)

I’d been smelling the ivy flowers all day, as I walked one of my local circuits, though Cosmeston along to Lavernock and back to Penarth along the coastal path. But I hadn’t noticed any open flowers until I heard the loud buzzing coming from the ivy ahead of me on the path. It was alive with various species of bee and fly and hoverfly. And then I spotted what I was looking for – the ginger fluff and black-and-yellow-stripes of Ivy bees (Colletes hederae), my first for 2019.

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You can find out more about these handsome creatures in my previous blogs here and here.

190914 ivy bees (8)

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Busy little Ivy bees

08 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, nature, plants

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bees on Ivy flowers, British bees, Colletes hederae, Ivy bee, Ivy bee mapping project, ivy flowers

Most of the Ivy bees (Colletes hederae) I spotted when I was out walking last week were living up to their reputation as busy little mini-beasties.

181008 ivy bee (2)
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181008 ivy bee (5)

But then I spotted this one, sitting on a leaf, cleaning the pollen off its legs, wings and body. I asked politely if it would please smile for the camera … and it did … I think.

Ivy bees only arrived in Britain in 2001 but they’ve slowly expanded their range across southern England and in to south Wales. They’re very handsome little bees and completely harmless but can only be seen when the Ivy is flowering, from September to November. If you spot one, it would really help if you could report it so that the wonderful folk at BWARS (the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society) can track the bees’ spread around Britain.

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An Ivy bee mating ball

24 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

bee mating frenzy, bees, bees on ivy, British bees, Colletes hederae, Ivy bee, Ivy bee mating ball, ivy flowers

Some days are just magical! I went out looking for birds – instead I got mobbed by Red admiral butterflies while walking along the coastal path, which made me grin like a Cheshire cat, and then I found these little buzzers.

170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (4)
170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (5)

They’re Ivy bees (Colletes hederae) and, as their name suggests, they feed on ivy flowers so they don’t appear until early autumn, when most other bees are winding down activities for the year. With an orange woolly thorax and orange-and-black striped abdomen, these bees are easy to identify, though Colletes hederae was only described as a separate species back in 1993 (before that it was confused with two other species of Colletes). Ivy bees only arrived in Britain from Europe in 2001 but have since gradually spread across southern England and in to south Wales: the extent of their spread is being tracked by BWARS, the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society, so please do log your sightings, either on their website here or with your local records centre.

170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (6)
170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (7)

I had seen my first Ivy bees for the year the previous week but this new sighting was more special because it was a colony. Though the Ivy bee is a solitary bee (it doesn’t form a hive), a group of females will often excavate their individual burrows and underground chambers together in a sandy bank or similar area of loose earth. And, as the BWARS website explains, male bees often wait by the burrows for females to return and then pounce on them. When the other males spot what’s happening, they also want a piece of the action, jumping on the mating couple to form a writhing mass or mating ball. I was lucky enough to see one of these happen, as shown below.

170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (1)170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (2)170924 Ivy bees Colletes hederae (3)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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