Solitary Bees waking up!

Solitary Bees start work on your garden.

Solitary Bees are one of the pollinating insects we take for granted, as their name suggests, they do not swarm or live in a hive, they go about the business of pollinating plants and flowers and making a nest for their eggs out of the small amount of honey they make to seal the nest, then they go out and do it all again.

Pollination is a fundamental part of nature, virtually everything would cease to exist without pollination and Bees are one of the key pollinators in the UK. Solitary Bees like the Leaf Cutter, and Red Mason Bees do not produce honey in harvestable quantities, they just produce it to seal their nest, there is no queen bee, and therefore every female is fertile. Providing a home for Solitary Bees is simple - they just need a nice hole to crawl into, about 5 to 8mm diameter and 50 to 75mm deep, the best way is to use bamboo cane, or drill holes into solid blocks of wood, some Solitary Bee houses come apart to allow cleaning of the nests, this prevents other insects taking over also solitary Wasps may use the holes, this is not a bad thing as the Wasps also eat Aphids.

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