OUT in the garden, I was pleased to see a bee buzzing past. I know they have quite a nasty sting but they are also incredible creatures. There are an amazing 270 species of bees in the UK, of which only one is a honey bee and 24 are bumblebees. That means there are more than 240 different species of solitary bees.

The honey bees are the main social bee and a colony has one queen, that lays eggs, and males, known as drones, that have no sting and the female worker bees, that do sting, and do all the work. The worker bees only live about six weeks in summer and travel usually a mile or so from the hive to collect food. The drones simply mate to produce more bees and are fed by the worker bees until they are ejected from the hive in the autumn. I don’t think it’s worth commenting on that any further!

Bumblebees do live socially over the summer, in a colony consisting of less than 500 individuals, and are a big furry bee; they can sting but rarely do so. They can beat their wings at up to 200 beats per minute and make the well-known buzzing noise.

The myriad of solitary bee species are the real stars as they are by far the best pollinators, much better than honey bees. As solitary bees don’t have baskets on their legs to store pollen like honey bees do, they drop much of it, spreading it liberally over the countryside.

It’s estimated a single red mason bee is over 100 times more effective at pollinating flora than a honey bee can. So, if you locate a bee in a hole in a wall or a tree, just be grateful for how much they are helping your garden flourish.