The bee that loves fluff

We humans do love to put names to things. It means that the world of garden minibeasts can seem quite impenetrable because they can be so difficult to identify.

It is nice, therefore, to find a creature that is relatively easy to tell apart from the others. So here is one I photographed in my garden this July.

To give you a sense of scale, it is about the size of a Honeybee, but is clearly darker and much stouter. Look closely and you will notice the yellow marks on its knees, but especially the yellow dots down its sides

This is the Wool Carder Bee, a species of solitary bee that is found throughout much of lowland England and Wales in gardens and on allotments. The northern edge of its range it poorly known and it may be expanding northwards.

The great thing about Wool Carder Bees is that it is easy to provide its three main home needs:

• Nesting holes in which the females can prepare their nurseries - solitary bee-boxes full of bamboo canes can work a treat
• Nectar and pollen, preferably from tubular flowers such as those in the mint family
• And wool!

Yes, the eggs are laid within a protective woollen cocoon, built from fibres collected from the leaves of fluffy plants.

Perhaps the best plant of all is Lamb's-ear (Stachys byzantina), which offers nectar and pollen and the craziest of shaggy leaves.

This is the moment this year when a male who had been lying in wait pounced on a female as she visited my Lamb's-ears for a spot of nectar.

So plant Lamb's-ear next year and you've a good chance that you will have created another Home for Nature.