Bee Species in the UK

You may be seeing more and more bees flying around as we enter into the warmer months of the year. This is because the worker bees and drones are collecting pollen and nectar to take back to their hive.

The functionality of a bee colony is truly amazing, every bee has their own role to fulfil. The worker bees are females and they run the show. They maintain the hive, look after the offspring, and collect pollen and nectar, and protect their queen. The queen bee has one task which is to lay eggs. The drones, which are male, are required for mating with the queen. Interestingly, only female bees can sting you.

Here are a few common species of bee to look out for;

Honey Bee

This is considered a very social species of bees. They live in large sized colonies which can survive for many years at time. They are usually yellow (sometimes orange) with brown stripes across the tail end of their bodies. They create honeycombs to store the honey they make from the pollen and nectar collected which they feed on. They Honey Bee is one of the only bees that will die once they have stung you. This is due to their stinger actually detaching from their bodies. It can be rather painful and even more so if the stinger is not removed quickly. Some people also have extremely severe reactions to bee stings like anaphylactic shocks which is treated with adrenaline and even being hospitalised.

Bumble Bee

Like their Honey bee family, bumble bees tend to live in large colonies too. They can become very aggressive when protecting their hive and will chase invaders away over quite some distance. The bumble bee is able to sting you more than once due to them not losing their stinger so be aware. Bumble bees are black with yellow stripes are usually quite round and can even look fluffy. They tend to nest in the ground usually but can be found in other locations like attics and decking.

Carpenter Bee

This species of bee is a solitary bee. They do not take part in the hive behaviour like other species. They will make nests for themselves and look after their eggs and larvae themselves. These particular bees are considered to be great pollinators and are used more regularly now for commercial bee pollination. Their typical nesting ground is in old wood. As the name would suggest, these bees are able to tunnel through wood to create a nest to lay their eggs and maintain their larvae unhindered.

Remember, if you have a bee issue please do give us a call. We will happily offer advice and options for dealing with your bee problem.