Busy

I only had a short window of opportunity for taking photos today, between the normal Saturday morning shopping delivery hoohah, and R and I needing to set off for rural Nottinghamshire, where we were invited to attend an afternoon wedding. So I was relieved that my little grey guy, Anthophora quadrimaculata, not only put in another appearance on the black horehound, but for once was relatively passive, and didn't react to my attentions by making a prompt leap into hyperspace. 

I'm still intrigued by the fact that this bee has appeared in the village, and more so by the fact that I've only yet spotted one (or possibly more) quite elderly male(s). It seems inconceivable that there are no females around by this stage, the usual rule with flower bees (and other solitaries, for that matter) being that the males emerge first and then die off first, leaving the pregnant females to carry on building and provisioning their nests. With Anthophora furcata, the Fork-tailed Flower Bee, I have the opposite problem: I have females, as I usually do at this time of year, both in the garden and along the lane at Tilly's field, but I've never yet spotted even one male. Apart from my beloved plumpies (Anthophora plumipes) - loveliest of bees, and as predictable as a Swiss watch - the flower bees seem to be just a bit tricksy.

Anyway, I got my bee in good time for getting (within reason) glammed up, and we made it to the wedding in good time and fair order. It was a lovely occasion, we met some nice people, and though we were both tired by the time we made it home again, we're very glad we went.