They’re chunky, aggressive, and speedy, and a delight to watch as they zoom around the flower beds, tongues poking out in anticipation of the next slurp from a flower, chasing other flying creatures for no apparent reason, hovering well enough beneath the tubular flowers they prefer to easily be mistaken for a hoverfly.

They’re Hairy-footed flower bees (Anthophora plumipes) and, yes, the males really do have long hairs on the lower parts of their legs – maybe they should be called Hobbit bees! Rather than the long hairs exhibited by the male of the species, the females have orange pollen brushes on their hind legs and, in fact, the males and females are very different from each other in appearance – sexually dimorphic, to give this its scientific name. The males are orange-brown, whereas the females are black.