Round holes are steadily appearing in leaves around the garden. This rose bush has been particularly savaged.
Busy, busy, busy: It turns out that Leaf-cutter bees are the makers of the circular holes. Here is one caught in the act of cutting a piece of Hypericum.
A Leaf-cutter bee filling holes in a bit of drilled tree trunk, stacked against our garage wall. This trunk sat untouched last year, but is nearly full now.
My super-easy-to-make bee hotel made for the #30DaysWild challenge in June this year. I used a spare breeze block and filled it with hollow stems saved from last year’s teasel, cephalaria, macleaya and lovage.
The bees cut the leaves to construct cells inside the hollow stem to house their eggs. They spend ages patching the leaves together, gluing them with saliva.
Just look at those fearsome mandibles!
This rose seems to be a favourite source of leaves and those mandibles are very efficient at cutting through them. The leaves are rolled between their legs as they are cut, for ease carrying .
I accidentally disturbed this bee’s entry to the hollow stem it was filling, so it waited on a nearby tree until I got out of the way (providing a perfect photo opportunity for me though)!
Each cell is also stocked with nectar and pollen, ready for when the larvae hatches.
Then once sealed off, the cycle begins again for the next cell. Truly busy bees!
Fascinating!
😉
Oh wow, I would have never suspected them.
I know and it is incredible how quickly they cut those circles
Happens here too!
I’ve seen the missing shapes over the years, but never seen them cut and carry before!
If you provide for wild bees, they come. They’re mostly around anyhow, but still, it’s fun to watch them in action! Great shots!
Thanks. This is the first time I’ve been able to follow the trail and that is only because there are so many leaf cutters actually using the ‘hotels’.
What a great post! We have bee hotels but I have never seen their guests as clearly as you have shown them!
Thanks. I’ve never seen them cutting stuff before. It’s been an education!
Ain’t Nature wonderful?!
Too right!
Believe it or not, I often see leaf-cutter bees around the boats. They’ll use the tiny vents on the sides, like this one as home base. Some vents are just for ventilation, so they don’t have wires or such running into them, and they’re perfect for the bees.
Before I started learning about plants and pollinators, I had to idea what the bees were up to when they came flying in with their cargo of leaf parts.
The more you see, the more you see! Amazing how adaptable nature is.
Fantastic photos and fascinating info – thank you!
I only noticed all this going on because I was trying to clear a space to put plants in the ground before going away!
Great pictures.
Thanks Brian