Bees that may look and/or sound like bumblebees, but are not bumblebees
Recently I've been getting a lot of e-mails from people wanting to know about bees that are obviously not bumblebees, but may resemble them. Usually the writers are concerned that these bees are causing some damage to their property, or are a danger to children and pets, and naturally they want to know what to do.
Almost all of them are classed as solitary bees, i.e. the female doesn't stick around after laying the first batch of eggs and providing a food supply (pollen and nectar), so the nest size is tiny. However some do nest communally either close together or using a common entrance hole, making it look a little like they are social bees.
These bees are generally less hairy than bumblebees and usually, but not always, smaller. The colour and pattern of their hairs varies, but is rarely the yellow and black seen in the commoner bumblebee.
Related pages - sweat bees, leaf cutting bees, hive bees
Mining bees.
These bees generally nest in the ground, often in paths or lawns, and some of the lawn nesting species nest communally. The entrance to their burrows are often marked by a small mound of excavated soil (see the drawing below). These bees are good pollinators of economically important plants such as fruit trees and alfalfa. In reasonable numbers these bees won't harm your lawn.
There are about 100 species of mining bee in Britain, most resemble honey bees, but are smaller in size. Their burrows can be 60 cm deep. The clump of pollen takes the mother bee 6 - 7 journeys to gather, and each load is around half her body weight. Once the pollen clump is the right size she lays an egg on it.
The photograph below was taken in north-eastern France at the end of summer. It shows a number of nests made in a vertical sandy surface by mining bees, probably Colletes sp.
Some of the nests were still being used, some had been taken over by spiders and others appeared empty. It is quite common for Colletes sp. to nest in dense aggregations like this where the ground is suitable.
The female cements the grains of sand together with a waterproof oral secretion plastered on the inside of the cell that dries to look like cellophane, is waterproof and resistant to fungal infection. The end of each cell is filled with a nectar/pollen mix with a single egg stuck to the cell wall.
There are 9 Colletes sp. in Britain, 3 in Scotland and 500 species world wide. These bees are sometimes given the common name of plasterer bees because of the cellophane-like secretion that they line the cell with. The British species are all medium sized bees. They are solitary, but in a suitable habitat they can nest in groups in light soil, as in the photograph below. The burrows are usually less than 30 cm deep, and are dug in sandy soil.
Scottish Colletes bees
Colletes daviesanus flies late May to early September, nests in south-facing slopes and walls, sometimes in great numbers.
Colletes floralis, commonly known as the Northern colletes flies mid June to late August, nests in coastal dunes and machair on south-facing slopes, and also in masonry. Found in the Outer Hebrides and Ayrshire.
Colletes succinctus, commonly known as the Heather colletes. Flies from July to October over dry heathland where it can form large nesting aggregations on bare, sandy ground. It forages mainly from heathers, but will use other flowers, usually yellow like ragwort and similar flowers.
Miners and carpenters
The photograph below was sent in by Allen H. in Tennessee, and is very interesting. When he first wrote about a small male hanging on to a big female I thought it was just the typical bumblebee mating, but said I would have a look at the photograph anyway. As soon as I saw it I knew there was very little that was typical about this photograph.
The little bee is a male mining bee, Andrena sp. who seems to have mistaken the large male carpenter bee for a female of his own species. The male carpenter seems oblivious to the male miner he is transporting as he has eyes only for the female carpenter who has been sucking nectar from flowers. And by the look of the female's body language she is less than keen for the male carpenter's attentions. There are around 360 species of Andrena mining bees in Europe and the near East, and over 500 species in North America. Most are solitary, but some do nest communally.
Carpenter bees.
Xylocopa sp. (above and below) are also known as Giant carpenter bees. There are over 750 species world wide; mainly topical and sub-tropical. They nest in dead and live wood, and some even nest in bamboo stems. They may reuse the tunnels from a previous generation. Females will guard their nests against predators and also against other females who might attempt to clear out a ready made tunnel and lay their own eggs.
Xylocopa virginica
Xylocopa virginica, the Eastern carpenter bee, (above) has a forewing length of around 18.5 mm. It is found in Europe and North America. It has been recorded in England, however this was on an MOD site that regularly receives imports from the U. S. In Europe it flies in the early summer. In North America it is the most common carpenter found in the east. In March and April the males set up territories near where the females will be emerging so that they can mate. By May all the females will have emerged and mated, and the males have nothing more to do so they all die while the females are drilling their nests. Often 2 or 3 females will occupy the same tunnel, although only one will lay eggs and provision the cells. Often this female will be a bee who emerged as an adult the previous year, but never mated. The helpers are likely to be her nieces and they will guard the nest, and probably hope to lay their own eggs in it the following year.
Xylocopa violacea
Carpenter bees have powerful mandibles (jaws) that can dig tunnels in wood. Xylocopa violacea (below), a huge (20-35 mm long body, wingspan of 65 mm, and forewing of 20 - 22 mm), black bee is fairly widespread in central and southern Europe. It is not native to the U. K., but is increasingly turning up in southern England, and has been recorded as far north as Yorkshire, and as early as February.
The female makes her nest in dead wood and digs a tunnel up to 30 cm long containing 10-15 cells. Each cell is stocked with a pollen ball held together by nectar on which she lays a single egg. The grub feeds on the pollen ball, pupates in the cell, and emerges as an adult, but overwinters in the nest emerging to the outside world the following year.
The females are particularly fond of digging into pallets, which may explain many of the introductions from continental Europe. The sexes look similar, but the male has bigger eyes and weaker jaws.
The photograph above is of a Xylocopa violacea hole, and below is the bee that made it. This bee holds the record for laying the largest egg of any insect. Carpenters are found in many parts of the world, and there is one very similar to this commonly seen in the USA. Naturally a large number of carpenter nests in the structural support of a building will cause some damage, but this is unusual.
Alarming carpenter bee behaviour
One behaviour can be alarming though. The males compete with other males to mate with females. This involves them chasing males away and chasing females to mate. During these chases they zoom about crashing into windows, people and anything else in their path. Humans in the way of all this may think they are under attack, they are not, they are just in the way. Males may also hang around waiting for adult females to emerge, and again they behave in what might seem to us as an aggressive way, by chasing other males away and investigating anything that gets near the exit hole. This something may be your head, you will be buzzed around and checked out to see if you are a rival that needs chasing away or a female that needs mating. However there is no danger as males cannot sting, so like much male mating behaviour it's all bluster and showing off.
Mason bees
These bees will nest in almost any cavity which they can modify in shape with earth or other materials to suit their requirements. Some species specialise in nesting inside snail shells, and there is a tiny species that nests in the holes left by wood worm beetles.
Osmia sp. collect pollen in the dorsal hairs of their abdomen - similar to some leafcutters, it is reddish brown and about 10 mm long. There are 12 British Osmia species. They nest in snail shells, wall cavities, plant stems, bee hotels and burrows in the ground. The cell divisions inside the nest are made from mud or chewed up vegetation.
The European species Osmia rufa, now known as Osmia bicornis, Red osmia, Red mason bee is the most commonly seen, and is often found nesting in old nail holes and in the mortar of old walls. It is found throughout Britain, but is less widely seen towards the north of Scotland.
Others, like Anthophora retusa, below, construct cells using clay, sand, earth and chalk, and earth mixed with wood - whatever is at hand. There are five species in the Anthophora genus in the British Isles, all have long tongues.
Anthophora retusa looks like a small, dark bumblebee, but she has orange-coloured hairs on her hind legs. In the UK this bee appears in the early spring and flies until July, it is an important fruit pollinator.
In towns their nests can often be found between two bricks in walls. The nest above has only two cells, if space permitted there would be more.