Black bees with white stripes on tail how to#
Gardening for wildlife teaches you how to create a garden to attract birds, bees, insects and small wild animals. Gardening for Wildlife taught by Andy McIndoe Females gather mud to build their nest cells and are efficient pollinators of fruit-tree blossoms. Female collects pollen under abdomen.ĭescription: A common resident of bee hotels and stone walls. ID tips: Bristly orange hair with dark head and thorax showing through. Nesting habits: Aerial nester including bee hotels.
Solitary Bee - Red Mason Bee, probably the most familiar solitary bee to many people. Only worker honeybees make delicious honey, using nectar gathered from flowers. Rear legs bare and shiny.ĭescription: Most honeybees in the UK live in hives managed by beekeepers. ID tips: Abdomen with amber bands or completely black. Nesting habits: Beehives or cavities above ground. Illustrations by Zsa Zsa Bellagio Honeybee In contrast, females tend to be much busier, flying quickly from flower to flower, and rarely wasting time by resting on flowers. They often patrol the same area for a while, so you may see the same bee repeating the circuit over and over again. Female antennae are shorter, narrower and tend to be elbowed.īehaviour can be useful too: because males do not have to collect pollen for the nest, they tend to sit lazily on flowers and then fly off again. The antennae of males are longer, thicker and tend to be curved. There are several useful clues: Males of some species have yellow hair on their head and faces. This surface is called the ‘pollen basket’. Bee workers and queens collect pollen, so they always have a back leg that has a broad shiny surface, or has a ball of pollen stuck to it. Some colours may fade as the bee gets older, so ‘red’ tails may begin to appear buff or orange in late summer.
Our common bumblebees have tails that are either white, red, buff or brown. Several species of bumblebee have this colour pattern. ID tips: Distinctive yellow and black bands and a white tail.ĭescription: The classic stripy bumblebees. Nesting habits: Old burrows and cavities. When to see them: March-November (sometimes year-round in the south). View course All Gardening courses Bumble Bee - Banded white-tailed bumblebees Keeping bees can be much easier than you might think! Phillip Chandler teaches the secrets behind 'natural beekeeping', and easy ways to keep costs down. Natural Beekeeping taught by Philip Chandler
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