Is it a Bee? Is it a Wasp? No, it's a Cuckoo!!

Following on from the previous post about wild Bees this post is about their cuckoo's.
Some bees are cuckoo bees, that is they can't be bothered to do all the hard work of building a nest for their eggs, or providing pollen to feed the grubs. No, these bee's have got it well sussed, they just lay their eggs in the nests of other bee's and let the other bees do all the work.
Hence the name 'cuckoo bee' after the lazy bird adapted to live by the same principals!!!!

There are may Cuckoo bees around, even some that look like bumble bees!!
In the garden 2 doors down the road we have a healthy population of hairy footed flower bee nests, constantly worried by their cuckoo bee Melecta albifrons

Many Cuckoo bees come from the family Nomada, and these bees look much more like wasps than bees!

This is Nomada goodeniana

I am sure you will agree, very wasp like! But not a wasp believe me if it was I wouldn't be holding it!!!

There are many species of Nomada bees, all of which look fairly similar, and who's identification drives me to distraction!

This one with no yellow spots on the thorax could beNomada leucophthalma 

This one is tiny, (it is sitting on a lesser celendine petal), and I am not sure of id.

Know your A's and Bees

This time of the year is excellent for bees, by that I don't mean just honey bees and bumble bees , but the tiny, often overlooked wild mining and cuckoo bees as well.

This is a honey bee, the type which live in a hive and give us yummy honey.

At this time of the year, you will also see bumble bees, usually in the form of the very large queens looking around for holes and hidden places to nest in. Bombus terrestris, the common yellow tailed bumble bee is very hardy and queens of this species can be seen all winter on fine, warm days foraging for nectar.

We have quite a few species of bumble bees here in the UK, most build small nests and are friendly and usually mind their own buisness. This is another very common species, Bombus lapidarias, the red tailed bumble bee.

In the south of the UK there is a relativley new species of bumble bee Bombus hypnorum, the tree bumble bee. these have a ginger thorax, and a white bottom!!!

But bewhere!!! I find them nasty and dissagreeable and more than willing to give you a good buzzing should you stray too near their nest site!!!

This is Anthophora plumipes, the hairy footed flower bee, so called because the male has a very hairy middle leg

These little bees which resemble small bumble bees are busy and noisy, and difficult to photograph as they never sit still for very long. they feed on nectar from garden plants especially pulmonaria and are one of our earliest wild bees.

Whilst the male is tawney (with a hairy middle leg), the female is all black with orange pollen sacs.

This tiny and common spring bee is Osmia rufa, no doubt named after it's beautiful colour!

Some specimens are even more orange .....and VERY hairy!

Another common bee is  the so called Tawny Mining bee (Andrena fulva) 

I think this little bee is really beautiful, and a fantastic colour. It is quite common and found in a diverse range of places. One of these pictures was taken in leechpool woods, and the second at Kithurst hill on the downs.

And yet another Andrena haemorrhoa

Which like most wild bees are quite friendly. I am told they can sting, and probably would if you hurt them, but I have never been stung - yet!!!

I think it is great fun seeing just how many wild bees there are out there, mostly unnoticed, I have several species in my garden and the forest is teeming with them.