3550 x 5366 px | 30,1 x 45,4 cm | 11,8 x 17,9 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
giugno 2006
Ubicazione:
Hampshire, England, UK
Altre informazioni:
Photograph taken in the month of June 2006 in south of England. Unlike social bees, such as honey bees and bumblebees, which live in colonies, and rely upon a Queen to lay the eggs, the leafcutter (solitary) bee works alone and as thus is gentle by nature and unlikely to sting. The female builds a nest in rotted wood or in the soft, sandy soil of compact plants, such as the sempervivum (shown in picture) in which to lay her eggs. She creates a cell by cutting a small circular piece of leaf from various garden shrubs, such as roses, into which she lays an egg. She then packs it with a food supply of nectar and pollen from which the newly hatched bee will feed the following summer. She then seals the cell with soil which then closely resembles a cigarette end in appearance. One nest can comprise a total of a dozen or so cells.
