Ivy Mining Bee (Colletes hederae)

As their name suggests, Colletes hederae strictly forages on the nectar and pollen of blooming ivy plants. This highly specialized diet means their entire lifecycle is perfectly timed to match the autumn flowering season of the ivy.

The Ivy Mining Bee was first officially identified and described by scientists in 1937 in Algeria. Despite being a relatively recent discovery, they are now widely distributed across much of Europe.

These solitary bees are called 'mining bees' because the females dig vertical nesting burrows directly into the ground. They prefer light, sandy soils and often form massive, dense aggregations of thousands of burrows in a single bare patch of earth.

Female Ivy Mining Bees are generally very docile and pose almost no threat to humans. They are solitary and do not have a hive to defend, meaning they will rarely sting even if disturbed, though males cannot sting at all.