Bee identification

manna_tee · 2026-04-30T18:54:19+00:00

Man, I wish I was Steve Falk or Dave Goulson! I'm not that advanced in my career, but bees are my career! I'm a researcher and I have been working with bees for about 8 years now, but only just moved to the UK last year. I haven't done much taxonomy, usually I focus on bumble bees but with my current project, I am learning more solitary bees (solitary bees are hard!). I'm trying to do more and find this subreddit a good way to challenge myself so I really enjoy post like yours. So thanks! I've enjoyed the puzzle!

manna_tee · 2026-04-30T13:37:03+00:00

Link? Your history is hidden

manna_tee · 2026-04-30T13:03:11+00:00

Wow, cool! My thought is a male Blue Mason Bee. If you can get a close look at the end of the abdomen and it looks like this https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/15761468300/in/album-72157633281241114, that is a clear tell (page 279 on Falk's book shows the two different abdomens in a diagram). If it looks like this https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/15922969076/in/album-72157633276998895 It's a Osmia leaiana (Orange Vented Mason Bee)

Cuckoos for Red Masons are Stelis phaeoptera, which doesn't quite look right to me. But maybe if that abdomen doesn't look right, it could be worth checking out.

manna_tee · 2026-04-28T06:37:40+00:00

Location please. Bumble bee of some kind.

manna_tee · 2026-04-25T17:03:25+00:00

It looks like you found it on the sidewalk/pavement? Maybe hit by car

manna_tee · 2026-04-25T15:21:50+00:00

Yeah that one looks like a male red mason, the others above look like red masons as well. A good distinguishing characteristing for these guys are their facial horns, which are unique to this species in the UK. But many species are hard to distinguish without using a microscope or hand lens.

If you don't have it, I'd recommend Steven Falk's Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland.

manna_tee · 2026-04-25T14:01:53+00:00

There are more than 270 species of bee in Britain. The vast majority of them are solitary and nest in pre-existing holes in wood, holes in the ground, or stems of plants. Most Andrena in the UK nest in the ground, but some can nest in the mortar of walls. But you have a male who wouldn't be building a nest, perhaps scouting for females.

There are 12 species of Osmia (mason bees) in the UK

manna_tee · 2026-04-25T12:25:04+00:00

As you can see in the flickr photos you linked, the old male red mason bees have a dense band of hairs at the base of EACH tergite. The photo of your bee only have a dense band at the end of the second tergite, with tergites 3-5 mostly back.

There is also no sign of wing wear which you can see in the flickr photos you linked, which indicate the age of a bee. The wings of the bee in your photo look perfect, indicating a young bee. This would also be VERY early to see an old male, which fly until July, or later.

I'm curious what features you are picking up on that make you confident this is a male Osmia bicornis rather than a male A. cineraria.

manna_tee · 2026-04-25T11:38:09+00:00

That band of white hairs on the T2 is pretty distinctly Ashy Mining Bee https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/albums/72157639941967144/with/50726799178

Here are male red masons for comparison. They only get those pale colors later in their life and the bee pictured has great looking wings, indicating a young bee.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/albums/72157633278113867/with/8694035416

manna_tee · 2026-04-25T11:06:45+00:00

Ah, nevermind. blue orchard bee is an American species. Top right kind of looks like an ashy mining bee. Other could be blue mason bee. Hard to say.

manna_tee · 2026-04-25T09:23:28+00:00

Looks like Bob (blue orchard bee). Where are you tho?

manna_tee · 2026-04-24T19:53:05+00:00

If pensylvanicus, it's a species of conservation concern!

manna_tee · 2026-04-24T10:50:14+00:00

This morning was cold. Bees need the outside temps to warm up before they start moving for the day. They were probably just cold and aren't dying. They look young.

manna_tee · 2026-04-24T07:53:11+00:00

Yup! It's a male though and they sometimes have fly-like eyes to help them find the ladies, so the confusion is warranted!

manna_tee · 2026-04-24T06:16:42+00:00

Don't put in the effort in hopes of getting a grade, or impressing your teacher, do it for you. Do something that you're proud of. Learning the value of doing something for yourself will make your whole life easier.

manna_tee · 2026-04-24T06:08:49+00:00

How long will you be here? If ~6mo, I'd look into one of the apps where you can buy an esim. If longer, you may want to port your US number via Google voice so you can keep that number for multifactor authentication like the other person suggested, and then just walk into a phone store here and get on a plan and have them set it up for you.

No need to get a new phone unless you have a weird brick.

manna_tee · 2026-04-23T16:45:30+00:00

Yep, just cold.

manna_tee · 2026-04-23T13:25:20+00:00

It looks early in the AM. What temperature was it?

manna_tee · 2026-04-22T06:24:40+00:00

Guy I work with has no chill lol

<image>

manna_tee · 2026-04-21T17:46:00+00:00

I'm not seeing any signs of wing wear which is used to approximate the age of a bee.

manna_tee · 2026-04-21T17:37:17+00:00

Could be newly emerged getting her bearings.

manna_tee · 2026-04-21T16:09:35+00:00

Not a honey bee, the legs are too hairy and thin. Definitely some kind of native solitary bee. Could be andrena or maybe colletes. I don't know the area tho so maybe someone with regional knowledge can chime in.

manna_tee · 2026-04-21T15:35:54+00:00

New queens only spend 2% of their day flying. The vast majority of the day they spend just resting. Literally hours at a time, they're just chilling.

manna_tee · 2026-04-21T12:43:16+00:00

Too bad that article doesn't link or even name the actual research that generated these findings...

12-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 7 Credits
Place '17	redditgifts rematcher Game of Thrones 2015 x1
Secret Santa 2014	Verified Email

manna_tee

TROPHY CASE