The ivy in the hedgerows is absolutely seething in bees today, in epidemic feeling proportions.

I have just been to the local plant nursery and they have had to close off one of their poly tunnels because it’s full of ivy bees, Colletes hederae.

Ivy bees are solitary bees, although they nest in burrows in aggregations and emerge in late August, early September to coincide with the flowering of the ivy.

I got back from the garden centre and took a closer look at the bees on our ivy – yes, its them alright.