The Scissor Sisters have been busy in the garden

I was wandering around the deep receeses of the garden this week and found that the leaves of some Red Maple saplings had been altered in shape by my little 'artists in residence'.

I'm sure many of you will recognise the tell-tale signs of the leafcutter bee. In fact, there are seven species of leaf-cutters in the UK, but only four of those are what you would call widespread.

In most of the species, the queens cut out these little leaf discs from various plants - often roses - and then somehow manage to fly to their nest hole carrying them in their jaws. There, they roll up the leaf to create nest cells in which their offspring can develop in safety.

My little discovery came just a few days after I'd had an email from my friend Chris who had been enjoying the antics of the leafcutters in her small urban garden. 

"I wanted to get a video of them cutting but it was very tricky; they nip around and go to different trees and bushes and other gardens!" she said.

"But I was able to watch one as it lined the inside of the tube. Wow - so painstakingly done! Hours of work."

 Chris was good enough to send me a couple of photos. Here is the busy queen at her solitary pursuit:

...and here is the finished thing, the hole filled with leafy cells and finished off with an immaculate terminal plug of chewed up leaf.

You can also see leafcutter bees collecting nectar and pollen. Smaller than a Honeybee, they typically have bright orange or even red underbellies, and have a habit of lifting their tail end up as they feed. Here's one I photographed at Phacelia.

But what a set of scissor skills, eh? Far neater than I could do with my teeth!