On my daily walk to the post office, I pass a hedge that is 90% ivy: this has just come into flower, and is generating a delightful honey-like scent. In turn, this attracts large numbers of bees, particularly my favourite (after Honey Bees, of course!) the Ivy Bee, Colletes hederae. Slightly larger than their domesticated relatives, they have brighter stripes on their abdomen.
These are a recent addition to the UK list, having arrived here in 2001. As the name suggests, their main food plant is Ivy: since this flowers from mid-September through until November, Ivy Bees are late emergers - the last solitary bees to appear. Although they don't have the Honey Bee's social structure and nest alone, their underground chambers are often in large groups.
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