Willughby’s Leafcutter Bee

I don’t know who Willughby was, but he or she managed to get themselves a truly beautiful bee. Worldwide there are over fifteen hundred species within the genus Megachile, but in the UK we only have seven, and M. willughbiella … Continued

Speed Feeding Champion

The third day of the Alternative Olympic Games came to a  thrilling climax this afternoon, with the finals of the 1m Speed Feed (Bees, solitary) competition. As had been predicted by most pundits, this came down to a head-to-head between … Continued

Sex and violence

I was watching a Wool Carder noodling through the hedge woundwort, thinking that it was smaller than I remembered, and half-forming the thought that it might be a female, when a second one swooped in and pounced. I think it … Continued

Osmia bicornis

This morning was very wet and stormy, but the thunderstorms cleared around lunch time and the afternoon was mostly warm and sunny – though scudding clouds still blew through and changed the light quite dramatically from time to time. The … Continued