Ashy Mining Bee

Andrena cineraria

Date First Recorded in the Garden: 04/06/2021

Family Andrenidae:

A good size family of solitary bees, around 1500 named species worldwide.

Ashy Mining Bee – Andrena cineraria:

A ground nesting solitary bee, associated with Fruit trees. They have just the one flight period during the year, April – June, when mating occurs. The females form a simple nest in the ground and here the next generation overwinter to emerge as adults in the spring.

In the Garden

We see these guys about a fair bit and they may perhaps be attracted to the apple tree we have in the garden. We suspect many of the small burrows we see in the grassy areas are down to these guys.