What's that buzzing?
Ivy bees!
There’s a tree tunnel I walk down almost every day with my dog, Noushi, and at this time of year it is alive with bees, busily buzzing away. Today I discovered that they are called ivy bees, which, in hindsight, makes a lot of sense... This time last year they were so loud and prevalent that I genuinely thought some local honey bees had swarmed, before realising that they were EVERYWHERE. I now realise the bees weren’t actually everywhere, they were anywhere there was ivy, as this is where they collect their nectar.
Ivy bees, which were first recorded in the UK in 2001, emerge just in time for ivy to bloom and you can see them throughout southern England and Wales from September to November. You can find these bees further north too, though they are much less common, so if you see an ivy bee in the North East please record your sighting!). They are solitary bees and nest in loose, sandy soil. Females secrete a cellophane-like material to line and waterproof their nests, which puts them in the category of Colletidae, or plasterer bees.
The more I learn about bees the more fascinated I become. So, if you’re in southern England or Wales, my task for you this week is to see if you can find some ivy bees. If you live elsewhere I’d still encourage you to find a patch of ivy and see what you notice… Maybe you’ll be the first person to record an ivy bee in Scotland! Or maybe, like me, you might just spot some bumblebee mimic hoverflies and spend some time admiring bluebottles glittering in the sun (I don’t know about you but I am usually much more likely to be swatting them away while I try to eat my lunch). I’d also like to prompt you to do some research into the different types of bees, particularly the bees you are likely to see in autumn.
I wasn’t planning on writing about bees at all this week (since we’ve quite recently had posts about both ivy and pollinators), but the buzzing was so loud I couldn’t ignore those ivy bees… and I wanted to share my findings with you all. When I decided to start this newsletter I sat down and made a rough plan of what I was going to write about each week for the rest of the year, but my plan almost always changes depending on what I notice when I am out and about. So even if you don’t spot any ivy bees this week, make sure spend some time in nature, or at the very least, staring out of your window. I’d love to hear about what you have noticed recently… maybe it’s something you overlooked last year, like me with the ivy bees. Let me know in the comments. And get in touch if you’re interested in contributing a guest post in future too - I’m looking for someone to share a post in November.
P.S. If you’re based in London (especially south London) or Kent, you may like to come along to the next Wild South London Wild Walk at Scadbury Park, happening next weekend. Hope to see you there!
Other posts you might be interested in:
Three Cheers for Ivy
This is a guest post by Jessica Taylor. The sun is shining, my bird pals are flying to and from the feeders in a blur of suet pellets and seeds and I'm sat in my garden, surrounded by a glorious mass of lush green ivy. Unfortunately though, that's not all I'm surrounded by. We live mid-terrace, so of course there are neighbours. And that would be fine, …
Get to know our precious pollinators
I love bees, but they do tend to get all the credit for pollinating our plants… (and according to The Wildlife Trusts, honey bees are likely responsible for pollinating between 5-15% of the UK's insect-p…