Rushmere Bee Bank

Since our first Covid lockdown of 2020, I have been monitoring a natural bee bank in Rushmere CP. When I first discovered it (on my way walking to my local Dragonfly NR) I knew nothing about bees and wasps but it gave me some welcome distraction in those days of Covid. The interactions that I observed of the various species inhabiting the bank as a nesting site taught me aspects of these fascinating creatures’ lives of which I was completely unaware. Now I know a little but not very much compared to the experts at BWARS, who are the folks that I needed to rely upon for most identifications.

Since I accumulatead a goodly selection of species on this one bank, I wanted to keep a record of the diversity, hence this dedicated page.

Meet my cast of characters. Some of these are not bees or wasps but other species which do share their habitat and have an impact upon them or are impacted by them. There are many interactions between the various species, where “interaction” usually means parasitizing or preying on each other. Wasps are generally predatory but some of the bees, what I call the benign bees, are simply trying to nest and reproduce. Among them, though, are cleptoparasitic bees.