Andrena cineraria. Females create nests underground by excavating burrows in bare/sparsely vegetated earth often in sandy soils, so the acid grasslands at Crouch End Hill is a good place to find one. They feed from a wide variety of spring flowers and shrubs, including buttercups, hawthorn, blackthorn, gorse and fruit trees. Photo Tristan Bantock
Buff-tailed bumble bee, Bombus terrestris. One of the more abundant bumble bees that can even be seen through the winter. Large species with light buff tails or white in the case of worker bees which makes them difficult to distinguish from the White-tailed bumblebee. If you see one, it’s probably a buff tailed worker. The queen’s tail is definitely buff […]
Common carder bee, Bombus pascuorum. Only three species (Common carder bee; Moss carder bee, Bombus muscorum; and Brown-banded carder bee, Bombus humilis) are all-ginger. The Common carder bee has black hairs on the abdomen, unlike the two rarer species, and males can also be distinguished by their genital capsules and by the bulging antennal segments.
Cuckoo bee, Nomada lathburiana. The term cuckoo bee is used for a variety of different bee lineages which have evolved the kleptoparasitic behaviour of laying their eggs in the nests of other bees, reminiscent of the behaviour of cuckoo birds. Cuckoo bees typically enter the nests of pollen-collecting species, and lay their eggs in cells provisioned by the host bee […]
Hairy footed flower bee,Anthophora plumipes. This species is one of the first solitary bees to emerge in spring and people often confuse them for small bumblebees, although their quick darting flight motion is a good way to tell them apart. Males are gingery brown with cream coloured hair on their faces. Females are black all over except for orange/red hairs […]
Hairy-footed flower bee, Anthophora plumipes. This species is one of the first solitary bees to emerge in spring (as early as February) and people often confuse them for small bumblebees, although their quick darting flight motion is a good way to tell them apart. Males and females look very different from each other. Although they are solitary bees (with no […]
Red mason bee,Osmia bicornis. As the name suggests, these bees frequently nest in masonry between bricks. They’re also happy adopting a home in bee hotels. Females seal up their nests with mud to allow their young to develop over winter protected from frost and rain. Photo Tristan Bantock
Red tailed bumble bee, Bombus lapidarius. One of the Big 7 widespread and abundant species, found in a wide range of habitats across the UK. Queens and workers are jet-black, with a bright red tail covering up to 50% of the abdomen. Males have yellow facial hair and bright yellow bands at the front and rear of the thorax, along […]
Vestal Cuckoo Bee, Bombus vestalis. It is a brood parasite that takes over the nests of other bee species. Its primary host is Bombus terrestris (the buff-tailed bumblebee). A key characteristic is the lack of a pollen basket on the hind. This is because it does not make its own nests or collect its own resources. With its larger body […]
