ADBKA member Donald Morrison discovered this bee and others like it living in a concrete wall in an industrial estate in Blackburn. At first glance it looked familiar – a feral colony of honeybees? However, on closer inspection this was something very much more unusual.
After some research, Donald identified it as a mining bee called Andrena nigroaenea. There are around 100 species of mining bee found in Britain, though this one seems to be rare up here in the north east of Scotland.
Sad to say, Donald’s latest report is that the local Great Tits have been hanging around the opening to the nest and have been picking off the bees as they come and go. Things aren’t looking good for Andrena nigroaenea.