Solitary Bee Week

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This year, July 3 – 9 is Solitary Bee Week. The fifth year that the campaign has run, 2023 is the first year that Buglife have taken the lead.

Around 90% of the UK bee population (over 240 species) comprises solitary bees. Globally, there are estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000 different types of solitary bees. Solitary bees don’t live in hives, they don’t make honey, and they don’t produce wax. As a pollinator, the solitary bee has a critical role to play in our ecosystem. At least one in every three mouthfuls of food we consume is down to pollinating animals such as bees.

Emma Lord Sagacious Cat Creative The Photographers Way Solitary Bee
The Mason Bee tends to nest in wall cavities and are also common residents in custom made bug hotels

Lifecycle

In spite of their name, solitary bees often nest close to one and other. Around 70% of solitary bees are mining bees, and nest below ground. The rest are cavity bees, choosing spaces above ground such as hollow sticks and stems, purpose made insect homes, and even empty snail shells.

Solitary bees usually emerge from their nests in the spring. Males are the first to show, and wait for females to leave the nests so they can mate. After mating, the males die quickly, their total lifespan is around 2 weeks. Females live for up to 6 weeks, and are left to find a suitable place to lay their 1-20 eggs. Eggs are laid with female eggs at the back, and male eggs at the front of the nest.

Emma Lord Sagacious Cat Creative The Photographers Way Solitary Bee
The Small Scissor Bee is our smallest bee. The females nest in cavities such as woodworm holes. Males often sleep in flowers, which is where the bees mate.

The female bee gathers nectar and pollen for the larvae when they hatch from the eggs a few weeks after laying. The females then die off. By autumn, the larvae are fully grown and ready to pupate. After pupating, the larvae remain in their cocoons in the nest until hatching the following year and restarting the cycle. This is in contrast to bumblebees whereby the queen hibernates, laying her eggs when she emerges in the spring.

Climate change is having an impact on bees waking in the spring. With unusually warm starts to the year, bees sometimes take to the wing early, only to find their food sources are not available. Without food, and subject to exposure if temperatures drop again, the bees will not survive. The Woodland Trust runs a project, Nature’s Calendar, to track weather and timings in nature. Anyone can add to the work, in support of records dating back to the 1700s.

Helping Bees

I’ve written before about actions we can take to help bees. These include:

  • Planting plenty of bee friendly flowers (they are particularly drawn to purple, violet, and blue colours);
  • Allowing wild flowers to grow by mowing less often, and when the weather has been as hot as June was, water the wild flowers which grow where places are not mown;
  • Providing nest sites, such as insect houses, for solitary bees;
  • Nurturing wild areas for cuttings, including small branches and twigs, which provide habitat options for solitary bees;
  • Avoiding using pesticides, and certainly not on open flowers; and
  • Leaving water out for pollinators.

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