Tiny bees?

[Slarti]

Between our front garden wall and the path we have allowed various plants to grow so as to try and stop other people's dogs fouling there.
Quite a few of the plants grow so close to the edge of the path that I have to take the hedge trimmer to them so that the path doesn't get blocked.

While looking to see if this needs doing at the moment (I noticed loads of teeny weeny "bees" flying in and out of a gap between the ivy and the cotoniaster in large enough quantities to make me think, nest.

But I've never seen bees that small.

I tried to photo them, but they are fast, so even out of about 20 shots, I only have 2 pictures.
What do people think?





Slarti

[Pipsmum]

They look like worker bees to me. Have you got a wall nearby?

They are the working ladies and are petite. They are the housekeepers.

[oldapple]

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lasi/resources/ ... vyvisitors

We also have a clump of old ivy which has been covered with bees/hoverflies in the last few days. I think most of ours were hoverflies but it's difficult to tell them apart.

[Slarti]

They look like worker bees to me. Have you got a wall nearby?

They are the working ladies and are petite. They are the housekeepers.

Yes there is the garden wall behind the vegetation, but it is single skin so I doubt if they would have dug into it.

I'm just surprised that there is suddenly activity at this time of year when there hasn't previously been any.


Slarti

[ReformedCharacter]

Yes there is the garden wall behind the vegetation, but it is single skin so I doubt if they would have dug into it.

I'm just surprised that there is suddenly activity at this time of year when there hasn't previously been any.

Slarti

They do look like honeybees but it is hard to say. They are there now because the Ivy is flowering and it provides a good source of pollen and - if it is warm enough - a good supply of nectar too. I'm not a fan of Ivy in the garden but it is a very useful source for bees at a time when there may not be much else available.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/19003

RC