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Mason Bee (Osmia xanthomelana)The Mason Bee is one of Britain's rarest bees - it is found at only two coastal sites in North Wales. The bee was thought to be extinct in Britain except for a small colony on the Isle of Wight, but was rediscovered in North Wales in 1995 during a Liverpool Museum biodiversity survey. Ironically, and sadly, it now seems to have disappeared from the Isle of Wight. The museum has subsequently researched the ecology of this bee at these important sites, so that the remaining populations can be effectively conserved. The Mason Bee is a solitary insect. Each female constructs her own nest hole in soft rock cliffs. She fashions wet mud to build clay cells inside the nest, stocking them with pollen and nectar from a particular species of plant. A single larva then develops in each of these cells. Learn more about efforts to protect the Mason Bee [opens new window] |