Get buzzy to help the solitary bee

SCIENTISTS want the public’s help in recording sightings of the relatively unknown native solitary bee.

Solitary bees – so named because unlike honeybees and bumblebees, it rears young on its own – make up more than 90 per cent of Britain’s bee species but little is known about them.

Scientists at Anglia Ruskin University want to learn more about these important pollinating creatures and have set up The Solitary Bee Project. In particular, they want to know where the bees nest and why, in order to try to influence agriculture, gardening and urban planning.

The study will focus on the tawny mining bee, the ashy mining bee, the yellow-legged furrow bee and the ivy bee. The species nest in groups placed close together and it is these groups the public are asked to look for.

To take part visit the website thesolitarybeeproject.org. Samantha Herbert