Ivy Bees in the UK: The Fascinating Autumn Bees That Emerge When Others Disappear
Sunday, 27 September 2026
There are almost 250 species of solitary bees in the United Kingdom – and the most recent addition to that number is the ivy bee (Colletes hederae). They looks similar to honey bees – and can often be mistaken for them – but they are a little smaller. What sets them apart from other bees is the fact that they don’t emerge until late in the year – early autumn in fact. As the name suggests, it is ivy that they are after and because ivy flowers late, these patient bees wait and wait and wait until it’s time to go and collect the pollen.
They may be solitary in terms of each female digging her own
burrow, but when it comes to their favourite spots, they don’t mind coming
together in huge numbers – often in their thousands. The males emerge first and
patrol around the colony waiting (they like waiting, so perhaps are perfectly
at home in the UK!) for the females to come out to play (as it were). As the female only mates once, when she does
signify that she is ready, there is something of a rugby scrum between the
males to get to her – which by bee standards looks a little inelegant to say
the least.
Once mating has happened, the female will dig her nest in soft soil, and then go back and forth to the nearest ivy flowers to collect enough pollen to feed her young. If the ivy is scarce, they will visit other flowers (daisies seem to be the alternative choice), but if you see bees around ivy at these time of year and up to November, the chances are that they are ivy bees. Strangely enough, this particular species was only recognised as a distinct species in 1993, when it was discovered that they were distinct to another Collates species.
In this
video, Miranda from Grain of Sand shows us this marvel of nature. These bees were first recorded in the UK in
the early 2000s and they are now spreading (that’s global warming for you, I
guess, but I do wonder what they made of this last summer). And yes, of course these bees sting, but they would really rather not - so keep a little distance if you are ever lucky enough to encounter them.
Watch the video below – I found it immensely interesting, not to mention calming!
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