In April 2017 Rob Mills photographed a distinctive insect in his garden. This turned out to be the bee-fly Anthrax anthrax, a species never confirmed from Britain before. The bee-fly was sitting on a bee hotel in his garden near Cambridge, on a log drilled with holes containing solitary bee brood cells.

This bee-fly has been referred to as the Black Bee-fly, or the Anthracite Bee-fly, and its rather alarming scientific name of Anthrax derives from a Greek word for coal. The fly’s body is black, as are its wings apart from a clear zone at the apex and around the hind… Read more

A small species with a body length of 5–7 mm. In the field it most resembles Nomada conjungens Herrich-Schäffer and Nomada flavoguttata (Kirby) in both size and coloration and could easily be passed over as being those species. The main distinguishing characters (colour and form of the labrum in the female, and shape of the intermediate flagellar segments in the male) are best viewed under a binocular microscope. The species is included in a recent key to the bees of Switzerland (Amiet et al., 2007).

BWARS member Paddy Saunders has detailed an alarming 75% decline in Cornish sites for Eucera longicornis - longhorn bees. Read the report here: http://kernowecology.co.uk/eucera.html

Martin Harvey leads this course introducing a range of pollinating insects, including the variety of different bees and hoverflies: how to find them, how to recognise them and what their role is in pollination. We’ll be able to explore the rich flower meadows and hedgerows of Forty Hall Farm.  A number of projects have been set up recently to help record and conserve pollinators, and you’ll be able to find out how to take part in these.

Venue: Forty Hall Farm, Forty Hill, Enfield EN2 9HA

Price: £35

Must be booked via Epping Forest FSC - for full… Read more

Nick Owens' new book - The Bees of Norfolk will be published on 1 May 2017. More information can be downloaded here

Flyer for Bees of Norfolk book by Nick Owens - due for publication 1 May 2017

Steven Falk, author of the 2015 best-selling Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland, has teamed up with the Short-haired Bumblebee Project and Sussex Wildlife Trust to provide a 2 day course specifically aimed at learning about the complex art of solitary bee identification. This will include an introduction to the key differences between various bee genera, and identifying pinned specimens under a microscope using Steve's widely available and much-praised keys. The second day will involve exploring… Read more

Steven Falk, author of the 2015 best-selling Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland, has teamed up with Kent Wildlife Trust to provide a 2 day course specifically aimed at learning about the complex art of bee identification. This will include an introduction to the key differences between various bee genera, and identifying pinned specimens under a microscope using Steve's widely available and much-praised keys. The second day will involve trips to a couple of fine sites to see wild bees and understand more of their… Read more