The smallest bee I ever saw

There was an advert on TV once about kitkats - you know, "have a break have a kitkat". Anyway, this ad was of a guy patiently sitting by a Panda enclosure at the zoo. He waited and waited and nothing happened. Then he turned away to have his kitkat, and the Pandas came out and did a song and dance routine, disappearing back into their cave as the photographer turned back round.

That's just how I feel when I'm trying to get an image in the garden - I get this strong feeling that all the action is happening out of sight behind me, and as soon as I turn round - it all disappears.

Anyway, today, I waited long enough to see this stunning little bee glowing in the sunlight.

This little bee is from the Family Halictidae - Halictid Bees or Burrowing Bees. Barely 5 mm in length it can be mistaken for one of those little irritating flies that you get in summer. But not this little fellow. Once you get used to it, you can tell the bees from the flies by their flight pattern.

Most halictids nest in the ground, though a few nest in wood, and they mass-provision their young (a mass of pollen and nectar is formed inside a waterproof cell, an egg laid upon it, and the cell sealed off, so the larva is given all of its food at one time. All species are pollen feeders and may be important pollinators.

Even more metallic.