Today I would like to take you to Glasgow’s Victoria Park. The park, which boasts an extensive range of formal floral displays, carpet bedding and hollies, was formally opened in 1887.

Recently we have discovered an interesting insect using the flower beds in Victoria Park. It is the Sandpit Mining-bee (Andrena barbilabris). Internationally a common species of heathland, coastal dunes and other sandy areas, however a rare species in Scotland.

What do they look like?

The body length of A.barbilabris is commonly around 11 mm with males smaller and more slender than females. In comparison, a honeybee is commonly around 12-15 mm and bumblebees can range between 12-22 mm. Females tend to look reddish-brown in the field. Their abdomen is sparsely hairy and shiny with weak hair fringes. The narrow head gives the females an almost hunch-backed appearance. The slimmer males tend to look silvery in the field.

How do they live?

In early spring the bees emerge from the underground cells. They mate, and the females then seek sites for their nest burrows, where they construct small cells containing a ball of pollen mixed with nectar, upon which an egg is laid, before each cell is sealed. The nest is hardly visible, but the scent leads her to the right place. The bee digs through the sand and in a few seconds the bee is in the nest, hidden under the sand. The bees fly from March to July and forage on a great variety of flowers. They prefer to forage on flowering willow trees within 300 metres from the nest. The south-facing sandy flower beds and willow trees around the duck pond make Victoria Park an ideal nesting location for A.barbilabris.

What’s next for the bees?

To learn more about the bees and their behaviour and preferences we will be applying a variety of approaches to the flower beds in Victoria Park. Covering the flower beds with bedding plants between March and July might impact on the bees’ accessibility to their nests. However, when the bedding plants are planted from July onwards, they will help to reduce weeds and keep the sandy soil clear in spring. Instead of bedding plants, we could offer the bees an additional food source by sowing nectar-rich wildflowers amongst the nesting sites. However, this increase in plant cover might also impact on the bees’ accessibility to their nests. Another option is to leave the flower beds clear of plants all year round and remove upcoming weeds as and when required. It is clear that the next few years will be a learning curve in regards to the behaviour and preferences of the sandpit-mining bee in Glasgow.

Further reading:

https://www.buglife.org.uk/

http://bumblebeeconservation.org/

Jimmy is a Countryside Ranger with Land and Environmental Services with a keen interest in practical conservation work and monitoring and recording wildlife. Jimmy has a Master’s degree in forest and nature management and 10 years’ experience as a Countryside Ranger.