The bee orchid is a sneaky mimic - the flower’s velvety lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species doesn’t…

The ivy bee is a new arrival to the UK. First recorded here in 2001, it is slowly spreading north. It feeds mainly on the nectar of ivy flowers and can be seen in autumn when this plant is in…

The herring gull is the typical 'seagull' of our seaside resorts, though our coastal populations have declined in recent decades.

The common carder bee is a fluffy, gingery bumble bee that can often be found in gardens and woods, and on farmland and heaths. It is a social bee, nesting in cavities, old birds' nests and…

The Tawny mining bee is a furry, gingery bee that can often be seen in parks and gardens during the springtime. Look for a volcano-like mound of earth in the lawn that marks the entrance to its…

Honeybees are famous for the honey they produce! These easily recognisable little bees are hard workers, living in large hives made of wax honeycombs.

Also known as the two-coloured mason bee, this beautiful bee is famous for nesting in old snail shells.

This black and grey solitary bee takes to the wing in spring, when it can be seen buzzing around burrows in open ground.

The appearance of semi-circular holes in the leaves of your garden plants is a sure sign that the patchwork leaf-cutter bee has been at work. It is one of a number of leaf-cutter bee species…

The broad-bordered bee hawk-moth does, indeed, look like a bee! A scarce moth, mainly of Central and Southern England, it feeds on the wing and can be seen during spring and summer.

The hairy-footed flower bee can be seen in gardens and parks in spring and summer, visiting tubular flowers like red dead-nettle and comfrey. As its name suggests, it has long, orange hairs on its…