After much anticipation bee orchids are beginning to come out here at Frampton Marsh. They are an absolutely fascinating plant which has evolved so that the centre of the flower looks like a female bee. Not only do they look like a bee, they also smell like one. How, you say? Well, the leaves emit chemicals that smell like the females. Not a bad impression either as they are very successful at enticing the males. The male bee attempts to mate with the ‘female bee’ and so helps to pollinate the plants as he moves from flower to flower. Unfortunately the right species of bee doesn’t live here in the UK, so we have self pollinating bee orchids. Bee orchids may only flower once in their lifetime, this leads to some bumper years and some years with very few seen.
These have been spotted on the path leading up to the East hide. Our volunteers in the visitor centre will be happy to point you in the right direction. They can be spotted by their distinctive large pink petals spread out like wings, with a brown and yellow centre aka ‘the bee’.
(Bee orchid by Neil Smith)