The Hairy Footed Flower Bee
What a fabulous name! The Hairy Footed Flower Bee is one of the early bees here, zipping around the garden and settling briefly on the dog violets. Officially known as Anthophora plumipes, they are closely related to the black and white fur bee we saw last year . They form their nests in old walls and ruins so we have the perfect habitat for them with the crumbling walls around the main garden and the dry barn walls.
So far, we’ve seen plenty of the rusty / silver variant, the male, but have yet to spot the black female.
(click to enlarge)
Given the speed of their flight, we only managed to get a few passing shots – for fabulous close-ups, head over to Mark Fellowes blog. You may also enjoy Valerie Littlewood’s Pencil and Leaf , a blog full of wonderful insect observations and sketches.
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Bee removal
We will collect accessible swarms within a 30km radius of Civray (86400) - just call Jon on 0549 971017.
Hey Jon! How I envy you seeing the bees. I have yet to see a male HFFB. they are so wonderful. You will definitely know the female when you see her, she is very smart and like a little bomb. Thanks for kind words re blog!..you have a great site. Delighted to have found you.
Val
Thanks for visiting Val. These little bees are out in force over here at the moment and love the violets but they are just so fast. We’re keeping a watch for Mme. HFFB so will let you know when we catch sight of her!
We have just removed a HFFB from our house in Wiltshire, UK and carefully put him outside. Wonderful.
Alan & family
Well done Alan & family, they are wonderful creatures!