I’m always bemoaning my lack of good bee photos – the bees that got away before I got my phone out, the moving bees that made my photo blurry, the bees that I just couldn’t get in focus. But when I was looking back through my photos of 2025, I realised that I, or Brian, had captured a few species pretty well. So here they are: a bee for each month and the flower they are foraging on.
- The black fuzzy female Hairy-footed flower bee (Anthophora plumipes) is foraging on Tree germander (Teucrium fruticans) on the 5th floor of a hotel terrace in central London in March.
- The male Red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) with long antenae is on the apple tree in our garden in east London in April.
- The Orange-tailed mining bee (Andrena haemorrhoa) was foraging on Sea thrift (Armeria maritima) on the west coast of Scotland in May.
4. The Tree bumblebee ((Bombus hypnorum) is foraging on lavender in the garden of the Museum of the Home in east London in July. This is the only tree bumblebee I have seen in London for many years.
5. I was very excited to see lots of Red-tailed bumblebees ((B.lapidarius) foraging on Geranium Rozanne and Salvia in a Norfolk garden at the end of May, because I don’t see these bumblebees in London.
6. I do see lots of Wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum, but I never grow tired of their antics around the Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina). Plant this and they will come, even on the 8th storey of an office black in the City of London in June.
7. Small scissor bee (Chelostoma campanularum) inside a bell flower/ You can see she is only around 4mm in size against the flower. This was taken in July, in central London.
8. Common furrow bee (Lasioglossum calceatum) is a little longer than the small scissor bee and has a banded black abdomen. It is forageing on this very drought-tolerant Erigeron ‘Wayne Roderick’ (Fleabane) a long-flowering perennial with daisy link flowers with yellow centres and semi-evergreen glaucus leaves. It does well on the 8th storey rooftop garden in the City of London where I saw the bee in August.
9. The same month, I captured this tiny Green furrow bee (Lasioglossum morio), on the 11th storey rooftop garden in Bloomsberry, London.
10. In September, I was in Canada and spotted some lovely bees including this bright metallic green beauty (middle) on a daisy-like flower in the back yard of where we were staying in downtown Toronto. It’s a type of sweat bee, called Agapostemon virescen, common across North America and has become the offical bee of Toronoto. More on our Toronto bee trip here.
11. Back in London, I saw lots of Common carder bees (Bombus pascuorum) foraging on late flowers in October include hebe on the 5th storey of an office block in the City where I’ve created bee-friendly planters.
12. Buff-taled bumblebees (B. terrestris) are flying all year in London. Here’s my best B. terrestris photo of the year, taken on another hebe.
Two of my favourite bee photos of the year were taken on our travels in Costa Rica (Dec 24- Feb 25). Here are just two: This Eulaema cingulata – until I visited Costa Rica I thought all orchid bees were small and metallic coloured, and only foraged on orchids. But they can also be big and fluffy like this one which is around 28mm long, and looks like a bumblebee with a long body and collects pollen in baskets on its hind legs. Its collecting pollen and nectar from Stachytarpheta frantzil, a purple flower popular with all pollinators including humming birds. Tetragonisca angustula are one of 54 species of stingless bee in Costa Rica. They live in colonies like honeybees – but only about 10,000 of them – and make wax and honey. They don’t sting, but if threatened can bite with their mandibles. Some species are more aggressive than others. Luckily these little orange bees, 4mm long, were harmless as their nest was in the wall cavity of a cabin where we were staying for a week. They made the tube entrance to the nest from resin and wax. It was fascinating to watch them building and adapting it. More on the bees of Costa Rica here.