Often #osmiabicornis aka #redmason bee have a quirky trait. They replenish their cells by backing in to their home. First they fly home, check their tube out, then come out and back in. They do this to scrape off collected pollen from the hairs of the underside! #SolitaryBeeWeek

One of the things I like about bee-hotels is how the occupants often pause at the front door to warm up; a good opportunity for photography. I reckon that this in the garden today is likely a female Orange-vented Mason Bee (Osmia leaiana). #OrangeWhiskers #Bees #SolitaryBees

Now's the time to sustainably collect local wildflower seed. This free guide tells you how to: 🐝Find the right wildflowers 🐝Tell when they're ready to harvest 🐝Dry & clean the seeds 🐝Store your seeds 🐝Use them to help pollinators True Harvest Seeds ➡️tinyurl.com/3kzdzpwu

This years #redmason bee haul #solitarybee #solitarybeehouse #georgepilkington

Elaine Speight, Director of the Creative Practice Research Academy (#CPRA), tells us about the vital research taking place at the University of Central Lancashire. ✨ uclan.ac.uk/research/activ… UCLan Humanities #Innovation #ResearchExcellence #CreativePractice #ArtistHour

First solitary bee of the year in our #Staffs garden! I think this is a stylopised Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica). Protruding Stylops parasite can just be seen in inset detail from a separate shot. Infected individuals look and act differently from non-infected ones.

Had a great day Lancaster University for the #Festivaloffutures Insightful and inspiring. Great speakers and lovely to network after. Also great to hear the closing sentiment by #sirchristopherfrayling to shout about the research we do in the UK #researchengland

Great little guide to making your own Solitary bee observation box. A variation on the classic made by George Pilkington.

Placed the boxes out last week. Ne at the allotment (which was a bumper haul last year) This weekends temps look good for the emergence of last years #redmasonbees #osmiabicornis #solitarybee ⚡️🐝⚡️

Yesterday at 2pm the first honeybee (Apis mellifera) in this species’ evolutionary history managed to pull a string for reward. They are much harder to train than bumblebees, though!

This is an epic moment for my #solitarybee research. Those in the know will know how significant this picture is to me. 10 minutes in the garage with the correct tools and voila! Big thanks goes to @artlabcps (Tracy) for the help and @_wood_butcher_ and Adam Hodge.design

WOW 😍 We have 299 of your hotels registered with The Big Bee Hotel Experiment! Challenge: Help us reach 350 by the end of this week! Share and shout about our most popular project yet 🐝 thebuzzclub.uk/thebigbeehotel… The Wildlife Community Dave Goulson Ellen Rotheray University of Sussex LNHS

We are very excited for our Citizen Science Virtual Symposium with the Biological Recording Company Keiron Derek Brown on the 16th May! Speakers: Dave Goulson Dr Linda Birkin 🏳️‍🌈 Dr Beth Nicholls- find me on Bluesky! Yanet Sepúlveda Ellen Rotheray More information and booking link here: biologicalrecording.co.uk/2024/02/29/cit…

Its moments like this where I see Ive done a good job at bringing the next generation of #masonbees through winter in the UK. Watching the male emerge here. Its a tough start to their lives, chewing to fly! Hexabee #solitarybee #redmasonbee #hexabee #solitarybeeguardian

Happy World Bee Day! Share and tag us in your favourite bee photos so we can fill everyone's feeds with lots of beautiful buzzing bees! Whose seen a mining bee this year?! Thanks to Martin Kingdom for this video 😍

Although most people are aware of honeybees and bumblebees, solitary bees are often the unsung heroes of the pollinating world. There are estimated to be between 20,000-30,000 solitary bee species worldwide with over 240 species of solitary bee in the UK alone. #SolitaryBeeWeek

“Something has has gone radically wrong" for insects, say Buglife Buglife bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Wildlife gardening Q&A with myself, Linda and Issy from the Buzz Club. The catch is you have to be a Buzz Club sponsor to join - so why no become one now, from just £2 per month :) thebuzzclub.uk/memberandspons…

Buzz Club Christmas Appeal youtu.be/lrDp8OiH2CA?si… The Buzz Club needs your help. Without it we will fold in March 2025. Watch this video for information about what the Buzz Club does and how you can help us. Pls share & help today: alumni.sussex.ac.uk/Buzz_Club_Givi… Thank you!