Bee carrying green caterpillars and leaves - Help please

[BuzzyBetty]

I am not a beekeeper but need some advice from one.

A small, brownish striped bee keeps carrying what looks like a green caterpillar around my garden (maybe the same caterpillar maybe not) and every now and again takes it to a hole in my wooden table and leaves it there. It then flys off and a few minutes later comes back with a piece of leaf - puts that in the hole and flys off again.

I am not sure what it is happening but having toddlers I don't want it establishing a nest/hive in my table. Does anyone know what it could be doing? And advice on moving it without harming anything.

Many thanks

Buzzy Betty

 

[pargyle]

I am not a beekeeper but need some advice from one.

A small, brownish striped bee keeps carrying what looks like a green caterpillar around my garden (maybe the same caterpillar maybe not) and every now and again takes it to a hole in my wooden table and leaves it there. It then flys off and a few minutes later comes back with a piece of leaf - puts that in the hole and flys off again.

I am not sure what it is happening but having toddlers I don't want it establishing a nest/hive in my table. Does anyone know what it could be doing? And advice on moving it without harming anything.

Many thanks

Buzzy Betty

Well - I don't know what it is but if it's in Hull it could be anything !

 

[BuzzyBetty]

Lol - thank you, how helpful of you.

 

[pargyle]

Lol - thank you, how helpful of you.

Sorry Betty, it's Friday, it's hot and this forum tends to get a bit silly ... Bees don't eat caterpillars .. hornets are prone to eating other insects and wasps given the chance.

There are solitary bees that make their nests out of leaves but it's a bit odd ... Can you get a photo of it ? There's a chance we could identify what it is - but its behaviour is something else altogether !

It's possible that it is a hornet ... is the body smooth and stripey like this - this photo is of a hornet with the remains of a bee its eating (Yuk !)

 

[Loolabelle1]

Hi Betty, I am not sure about the caterpillar but it could be a leaf cutter bee. She cuts nice round circles from a variety of leaves and uses them to make a nest into which she lays an egg. I had one set up home in a flowerpot but they are partial to the custom made bee houses that are sold filled with hollow canes. If she lays in a cane then she lays the first egg at the back, tucked in leaves and then keeps laying her eggs until she gets to the front of the cane, which she then seals. They hatch and the larvae remain wrapped up inside their leaves until the temperature rises in spring. The bee at the front then chews their way out and the bees behind follow. They are quite harmless but not sure how you can move her now without disturbing her nest. We are not talking about many bees, depending on the hole, it could only be 6-8. I am sure other members with more experience will be along with more information.

 

[alldigging]

http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/blogs/miranda_hodgson/archive/2010/06/28/watching-wasps-build-a-nest.aspx

Wasps of various sorts take caterpillars to their nest.

Stop it going in the hole - over it over.

 

[Norton]

It is probably a wasp that looks like a bee. The caterpillars are food for the larvae. They are immobilised by the wasp's sting and remain alive until eaten.

 

[pargyle]

There you are Betty ... instant encylopedia ... best bee forum in the world !!

 

[BuzzyBetty]

Thank you all very much - lovely fast and helpful responses - even to someone living near Hull eh Pargyle.

I have Googled the 'leaf cutter bee' and the picture is identical to the little bee that likes the hole in our table. Small, furry, brown with a very small sting. Even the rolled up leaves they are carrying in the pictures COULD look like a caterpillar (I really need to get to Specsavers.)

I shall leave her to do her thing seeing as she is unlikely to sting my daughter... and I would hate to disturb her or any of her off-spring to be

I shall leave a donation towards this wonderful, friendly forum.

Thank you all again,

Betty. x

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Bother: I saw a flying winged insect carrying a green caterpillar towards my roof on Sunday and was mystified. That means I've got wasps upstairs again; thank you everyone!

 

[BeeJayBee]

Thank you all very much - lovely fast and helpful responses - even to someone living near Hull eh Pargyle.

I have Googled the 'leaf cutter bee' and the picture is identical to the little bee that likes the hole in our table. Small, furry, brown with a very small sting. Even the rolled up leaves they are carrying in the pictures COULD look like a caterpillar (I really need to get to Specsavers.)

I shall leave her to do her thing seeing as she is unlikely to sting my daughter... and I would hate to disturb her or any of her off-spring to be

Excellent result

 

[pargyle]

Thank you all very much - lovely fast and helpful responses - even to someone living near Hull eh Pargyle.

I have Googled the 'leaf cutter bee' and the picture is identical to the little bee that likes the hole in our table. Small, furry, brown with a very small sting. Even the rolled up leaves they are carrying in the pictures COULD look like a caterpillar (I really need to get to Specsavers.)

I shall leave her to do her thing seeing as she is unlikely to sting my daughter... and I would hate to disturb her or any of her off-spring to be

I shall leave a donation towards this wonderful, friendly forum.

Thank you all again,

Betty. x

Excellent result - the leafcutter bee is getting rarer so that's good news. Get or make yourself a solitary bee nest (Just a bundle of bamboo with the middles pushed out) as your bee will need somewhere to hibernate in the Autumn and she won't use the nest she has made. Just pop it somewhere dry in your garden and you will find that it will get used by a variety of insects.

(PS: I'm a yorkshireman so Hull is still in God's own country as far as I am concerned !).

 

[victor meldrew]

(PS: I'm a yorkshireman so Hull is still in God's own country as far as I am concerned !).

You need to be God fearing to survive on your side of the hill
VM

 

[pargyle]

You need to be God fearing to survive on your side of the hill
VM

The wars of the roses never really finished - still, there was always one good thing that came out of Lancashire - The road to Yorkshire !!

 

[victor meldrew]

The wars of the roses never really finished - still, there was always one good thing that came out of Lancashire - The road to Yorkshire !!

More than a few friends around these parts and indeed family( through marriage) originate from Hull ,the heavy bombing during WWII caused the migration. Hard work but we managed to both civilise and normalise them eventually
VM

 

[Teemore]

The wars of the roses never really finished - still, there was always one good thing that came out of Lancashire - The road to Yorkshire !!

The relevant local Land Rover owner Clubs re-enact the War of the Roses annually..... all good muddy fun!

 

[pargyle]

More than a few friends around these parts and indeed family( through marriage) originate from Hull ,the heavy bombing during WWII caused the migration. Hard work but we managed to both civilise and normalise them eventually
VM

Ahh ... so you're an honorary Yorkshireman then ? All is forgiven

Hull was obliterated during the war ... it's a great pity that what they built afterwards (like so many other bombed towns !) is such an abomination ...

 

[BuzzyBetty]

Here she is... we already have a collection of bamboo canes bundled together behind the shed... I wonder if that is where she currently resides.

 

[BuzzyBetty]

Excellent news to hear that you are from these parts Pargyle... it explains the sense of humour.

My not-so-better other half is from Lancashire... funnily enough he has never fallen over himself to move back there.

Thanks again folks... it looks as though I am now a bee-keeper of some sort.

Have a lovely weekend all,

BB x

 

[pargyle]

Excellent news to hear that you are from these parts Pargyle... it explains the sense of humour.

My not-so-better other half is from Lancashire... funnily enough he has never fallen over himself to move back there.

Thanks again folks... it looks as though I am now a bee-keeper of some sort.

Have a lovely weekend all,

BB x

Looks very much like a leaf cutter - they like holes in which to lay their eggs. They lay an egg, put a rolled up leaf in front of it, impregnate it with saliva to form a cell, then lay another egg and another leaf until the hole is full, they the cap it off. They they push off and leave them to develop, they pupate, hibernate over winter and then the bee at the bottom hatches out in spring and eats its way out of the bottom and all the others then follow suit. You are very lucky. Lovely photos by the way.