James Silvey, Species Recovery Officer at RSPB Scotland, tells us about a new bee box design being tested on our reserves.
Buzzing with activity: New homes for nature going up on reserves
Mining bee. Photo by Nick Upton (rspb-images.com)
There are over 250 species of bee native to the UK.
Apart from the honeybee and 24 species of bumble bee there are over 200 species of solitary bee. The idea that some bees can be solitary often surprises people who believe that all bees live in harmony, working together for the benefit of the hive. This is not true for solitary bees and in truth is usually not even true for honey and bumble bees.
The vast majority of the world’s bees are solitary. One industrious female bee does all the work of finding a nest site, collecting provisions and laying the eggs before finally dying, of exhaustion probably.
There are many common solitary bees in the UK but they are generally overlooked as they appear similar to honeybees and can be seen doing the same job of pollinating flowers.
However you may have noticed some bees doing slightly odd things like burrowing into old masonry work, as the red mason bee often does, or excavating tunnels in a lawn, as species of Andrena or mining bees can be found doing. You may have even noticed neat little semi-circle holes appearing on your rose leaves and, lacking a visible culprit, blamed the poor snail or slug. In reality this is the work of a leaf cutter bee that uses the sections of leaf to line its nest. All three of these species are described as solitary bees.
Whatever the species, one of the most important decisions a female solitary bee has to make is where to make her nest. For many species the answer lies in small holes in wood, stone and even brickwork. Species will also look to the hollow canes left behind by last season’s umbellifers. This has lead to the popular bee house design made up of bamboo canes, and is used frequently by species such as the red mason bee.
Often these boxes are used in the first season they’re put up. You might see prospecting bees flying in front of the entrance and entering holes with fully laden pollen baskets. Within a few short weeks though the work is done, the bees have gone and all that is left is a mud plug over the entrance protecting the young from various predators and parasites that look to steal the provisions left by the mother.
What goes on within these solid structures is unknown to many of us which is why 2012 lead me to design a new style of bee box that can be opened without disturbing the hard working bee inside and observe the fruits of her labour. This design has been worked on over the last two years and this year, bee boxes will be sent out to reserves across the UK to monitor and record the local solitary bees who find this design to their liking.
Boxes will be in place at Loch Leven, The Lodge and Inversnaid where we’re hoping some of our rarer solitary species may take up residence.
Watch this space.