I’ve done it again – found some little bees so gorgeous that I simply couldn’t resist taking their photos, but this time I know their names.

These are Early mining bees (Andrena haemorrhoa), identifiable by the wonderfully furry, Fox-coloured thorax, with a complementary black abdomen and, as you might be able to see in my first photo, a fluffy little Fox-coloured bottom (which is the reason this species is also known as the Orange-tailed mining bee). This bee’s colouring is also the reason for the epithet haemorrhoa in its scientific name, as haima is the Greek word for blood and rheō is the Greek verb meaning ‘to flow’ – you have to imagine that the foxy mane and tail resemble flowing blood.

Bee-cause I hardly ever manage to identify bees to species, I just had to share this one that was a first for me and has been identified. My local go-to guy for bee identification, Liam from Buglife Cymru, says this is a ‘nice distinctive one with the orange thorax and black abdomen with bright orange tail. Also orange hind legs beneath the pollen brush’. Meet Andrena haemorrhoa, in this case a female specimen. When I recorded it, the common name came up as Orange-tailed mining bee, though the Naturespot website calls it the Early mining bee. Same same, but different.