🌼🐝 The large shaggy bee (Panurgus banksianus) is noticeable because of its big mandibles. For this reason, it can easily be mistaken for a leafcutter bee (Megachile). However, the large shaggy bee is completely black, while dark leafcutter bee species have lighter and much more hair. In addition, shaggy bees collect pollen on their legs, while leafcutter bees collect it on their belly. In Germany, there are three species of shaggy bees, and the large shaggy bee is the biggest of them. Their nests are built in sandy soil or loess, often in larger groups, typically on slopes, unpaved paths, in sand and clay pits, or at the edges of forests. They prefer yellow flowers, such as this water ragwort (Jacobaea aquatica), discovered on a wet meadow near the Stierstädter swamp.

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The ivy bees (Colletes hederae) are one of the 15 species of plasterer bees native to Germany.

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Their nests are lined with a cellophane-like plastic using secretions from two glands at the end of the abdomen and on the labium ("lower lip"). That's why they are also called polyester bees. In Germany we call them silk bees "Seidenbienen".

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They live solitary in colonies, in sunny locations with no or sparse vegetation, where they dig their holes. Each species of plasterer bees specializes in the pollen of a particular plant, as does the ivy bee.

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The distribution area of ​​the ivy bees in Germany is concentrated in the Upper Rhine Plain and the Middle Rhine (where these photos were taken) as well as the Moselle Valley. However, since 2006 there has been a major wave of spread. The bees have also developed a novel preference for kindergarten sandboxes.

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They are peaceful animals who were not disturbed at all by my presence. The females have a very weak stinger, which they only use in extreme danger. There are no known allergic reactions.

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Another blink of the sloth's eye
and the flowers bloom again.

🦋 Lasiommata megera, the "wall"
🐝 Bombus hortorum, the "garden bumblebee"
🏰 at the Falkenstein Castle
🌞 last summer

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Watch it to the end, not only I was curious! 😊🐝
They are so lovely! 🥰

Bees, once they find a good nectar source, tend to stick with this type of flower. That's why the beekeeper can tell you which plants the honey comes from.

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