What are Leafcutter Bees? - Discover Nature #15

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Episode 15: Leafcutter Bees
In this week’s episode Phil explores the incredible lifecycle of leafcutter bees!
If you'd like to contribute, please send us your photos and sightings, even if they are from outside the window while self-isolating, and we'll include them!
Get in touch:
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This video is a St Nicks ecotherapy project:
stnicks.org.uk...
St Nicks Nature Reserve homepage:
stnicks.org.uk
Video produced by Phil Taylor:
www.greenunderwing.co.uk
Title sequence by David Bodenham:
www.david-bodenham.co.uk
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[@HuwRees]

Just found some leaf-cutter bees nibbling away on some plants in the garden - needed to know more. Great info!

[@hmmmnmnmnm]

I was sitting on my patio and a bee carrying a leaf landed nearby and I was quite puzzled. I didn't know these existed! Thank you for the information.

[@iamtom90]

Bee surveys are pretty difficult when they fly past and you can't get a good look at them!

[@EcoSapien]

Yes, extremely difficult! We've had many times where we're had to record sightings as "unknown bumblebee", or even just "unknown bee" if we were particularly unlucky!

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

Just started appearing in our garden over the last week.

[@EcoSapien]

Excellent news!

[@lyndasala8681]

Are they in the US too?

[@freyawhiting2372]

The solitary bees in my garden filled there chambers in April and they have developed into grins now and I was wondering if they should have been a bit slower and I saw what looked like leaf cutter bees go in to my bee house but they didn’t seal the chambers with leaves they filled it with mud so I’m a bit confused 🤷‍♀️

[@freyawhiting2372]

Edit: grubs not grins

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

FourPawsAndMore. They would be mason bees they’re about before leaf cutters. The grub is fine they’ll stay there until spring next year amazingly.

[@EcoSapien]

I'm relatively new to solitary bee identification and only realised in the making of this video that mason bees and leafcutters are in the same Family, have shared features and so could be confused...

[@pelagieducat]

I saw a large amount of bees all on top of each other on a leaf in Florianópolis, Brazil. I was wondering if that was normal behaviour. I'd never seen bees gather as a colony on a single leaf. Any idea?

[@resinart2098]

I have some bamboo canes at home, can I set this up in my backyard! Are these honey bees! I don’t think they are but I have cut up leaves in my backyard 😆 so I know i have these!

[@EcoSapien]

Definitely give it a go. No these are not honey bees but that are equally if not more important pollinators for all sorts of plant species, including ones we eat!

[@paulmitchell5349]

Socially distant ?????