On a recent visit to Kakamega Forest in Western Kenya I noticed one of my favourite bees (a bee called Pseudoanthidium, also known as Carder Bees for their nesting habits) buzzing about near the windows. It was flying back and forth from the edge of the forest.
This pretty bee is marked in black and yellow and flies about fast furiously visiting flowers.
Flowers are an important resource for wild solitary bees as they depend entirely on the pollen and nectar for their own energy and food as well as for their larvae. Most solitary bees collect pollen and store it in their nests for their larvae to feed on.
While bees need wildflowers, they also need safe and sheltered places to nest and store their hard-earned pollen. This bee is one of those that constructs its nest from woolly plant fibres that it gathers specially for this.
Following the tiny bee back and forth I noticed that it disappeared behind a window.
On closer inspection I was delighted to find that there was a tiny nest that the bee was provisioning:
I enjoyed watching the bee coming and going and marvelled at the beautifully spun nest.
More from the world of bugs soon!
Interesting, thanks Dino. there are also other bee(not solitary) that build a similar nest but huge one. what species could they be? see photo in the email.
It looks more bold than the normal bees.