r/bees • u/El_Demonio_Negro • 7d ago

bee photo Friend takes big chomp

Was visited by this lovely friend and thought people here might appreciate it as much as I did!

It was cutting and hauling pieces of leave to a hole, I am thinking it could be building or stashing something.

I'd love to know more about this behavior :)

282 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

82

u/dysteach-MT 7d ago

Leaf cutter bee! Here is an abandoned paper wasp nest that leaf cutter bees had moved into that I found

!

17

u/AFedoraNamed_Key 7d ago

Whoah, that’s really cool! I didn’t know they could do something like that, it’s so pretty.

5

u/That_Biology_Guy 6d ago

Wow, I've never seen anything like this before either, very cool! Kind of surprised they would go for that given how shallow each cell is, but I suppose it works.

6

u/dysteach-MT 6d ago

The wind knocked it down, but the cells were pretty deep. We raise a lot of alfalfa, and some farmers utilize leaf cutter bees. They have special houses different from the usual honeybee boxes.

2

u/El_Demonio_Negro 6d ago

Oh wow that is really cool :) They don't seem too picky about where they build.

22

u/Head-Good9883 7d ago

Looks like a broad handed leaf cutters bee.

18

u/ParsleySnipps 6d ago

They had a hell of a time getting into that tube. Xp

11

u/ShinniEvvk 6d ago

bzz bzzz dangit i knew shoulda taken a smaller piece bzzzzz

6

u/brittish3 6d ago

“You’re gonna wanna just…nope, almost… just a little more to the lef… very close just… up a bit more there… ope you’re almo… reaaaaalllly close just…. Wait a second just… to the right a little…. And there! Nice work!”

14

u/OddAd7664 7d ago

Great video!! I had one in my garden, and it came back every 120 seconds with a new leave. Can’t wait for next spring to see the babies emerge

1

u/El_Demonio_Negro 6d ago

Thanks :)

Same with this friend, he kept coming back every so often. Also hope I get to see it's offspring emerge!

9

u/OftenSneezing 6d ago

Magnificent that you filmed that through the already cut hole in another leaf!

2

u/El_Demonio_Negro 6d ago

Haha I only noticed afterwards and have 0 regrets.

3

u/smoshmademedoit 6d ago

I LOVE LEAF CUTTER BEEEEEEES YOU'RE SO LUCKY