Paul writes: This is one of my favourite bees, mainly because it’s one of the first solitary bees to emerge in Spring. This is a freshly emerged female and is wonderfully striking with its rich orange fur and dark black legs. Its common name is the Tawny Mining Bee. It’s very easily spotted in late March or early April when there are few insects or flowers around. I found this one last year on 2 April, in Buckton, East Yorkshire, taking advantage of a pollen-rich willow catkin. As with most mining bees the female is lager and brighter than the male. The pollen brush, the long hair on the back legs, is used to collect pollen whilst foraging. You can see from the photo that the pollen is starting to cling onto the hairs and they will be heavily laden by the time the bee has finished and goes back to its nest to provision a newly formed cell.
It is one of the commonest solitary bees and often occurs in urban gardens and parks as well as rural hedgerows. Favourite flowers visited are spring flowering trees and shrubs, such as willow and blackthorn. It can be seen from southern Britain through into central Scotland.
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