This high quality FSC Bees guide features 28 species of bees found in gardens in Britain and Ireland. As well as the ‘Big Six’ bumblebees, the guide includes mining bees, cavity-nesting bees and cuckoo bees.

Beautiful colour paintings by Chris Shields highlight key identification features. Silhouettes next to each image show typical life size for each species.

The reverse side includes concise identification notes for each species. This text covers key characters to look out for, plus flight period, habitat and range. Also included are useful pointers to help distinguish between similar-looking species.

There are over 250 species of bee in Britain and Ireland. Bumblebees and honeybees are social bees, living in in colonies. But 90% of British species are solitary, with each nest the work of a single female. Mining bees excavate nest tunnels and cells in the ground. Cavity-nesting bees (including mason bees and leafcutters) use pre-existing cavities such as hollow plant stems, or a bee hotel. Cuckoo bees have a similar nesting strategy to the cuckoo bird. A female cuckoo bee will seek out the nest of another bee to lay her eggs. The Sharp-tailed Bee is a cuckoo bee frequent in gardens.

You can easily increase the number of bee species in your garden. Plant a mix of shallow open flowers for short-tongued bees and deeper tubular flowers for long-tongued species. Providing flowers for as long as possible through the year from early spring to late autumn will help the greatest number of bees. Undisturbed compost heaps and log piles are useful nesting and hibernation sites for bumblebees.

The FSC bees guide was produced in partnership with Buglife.

Mainland Britain

Our UK mainland delivery charges are as follows: (All figures are exc. VAT)

We send all items by Royal Mail 24. Please allow 2 days for us to dispatch, although it could be longer at busier times. This is a tracked service but NOT signed for, if you require a signed for service please select next day delivery.

For next day delivery, please order by 12 noon, item must be in stock. All stock levels are shown on the web, if showing as out of stock or prepared to order and required urgently, please contact us as we may have stock! Next day orders are sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery by 1pm.

Drosophila are always dispatched on a Monday, please advise when ordering your preferred delivery week.

Our working hours are 9.30am - 4pm Monday - Thursday, 9am - 12pm Friday. Orders received outside these hours will be processed the next working day; orders are only dispatched Monday-Thursday (Monday-Wednesday for perishable items). Hours vary during school holidays but we are usually available via email.

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Northern Ireland

Sadly, due to the UK leaving the EU, we can no longer supply Northern Irish customers with any products the have codes starting with an 'L' or 'P'. This is due to the requirement for all live or preserved products to have an import licence specific to the customer purchasing and the product being purchased. As each licence takes 2 weeks to obtain, and involves a considerable amount of paperwork, we have made the difficult decision to stop offering these products to Northern Irish customers. We can still offer equipment, i.e. products with an 'E' code, as these simply require customs documentation.

We apologise for the inconvenience and if the legislation changes we will review our decision.

British Islands

Delivery charges to the Isle of Man, Channel Islands (including Jersey & Guernsey), Shetland, Orkney and all the other islands we've missed, are the same as to mainland Britain (see above). The main difference is that delivery is likely to take a little longer, and for this reason we cannot guarantee next day delivery.

In addition, we cannot ship any liquids, so any 'wet' specimen ordered will be sent vacuum packed rather than in a jar.

International Orders

We welcome international orders but please note only non-perishable and non-animal derivative items, i.e. only those with codes starting with an 'E', can be sent.

Buyer is responsible for all import duties and taxes. EU businesses need to supply an EORI number before we can ship.

EU Delivery: £22

Non-EU Delivery £28

If you wish to buy something very small/lightweight, or need urgent delivery, please contact us for a postage quote, otherwise standard charges apply.

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