Photo by Rob King
The Yellow Loosestrife Bee (Macropis europaea) is dependent on the Yellow Loosestrife plant that grows along just a few of our ditch edges. The female will gather not only pollen but oil from the plant which she mixes to a paste to line the nest chambers that she has dug. This waterproofs the chambers so that her larvae can survive over winter even during flood conditions.
Despite it being a notable species, we had not recorded it on site since 1993 until myself and one of my volunteers, Carey, went out on a bee hunt in the summer of 2021. I am delighted to say that we managed to find males and females of this species – it may have been 18 years on but they seem to be doing ok.
We’ve continued to find them annually, and this year we’ve opened up a section on our seasonal Wetland Discovery Trail which has lots of Yellow Loosestrife so keep a look out for these fantastic bees as you explore.