Attract Bees - Attract Mason bees - European wool carder bees

What to look for: Look for a bee with distinctive yellow dots along its abdomen. Males will have prongs coming from their rear

Favourite plants: Wildflowers and bedding flowers

Making a nest: These bees nest in loose soil underground and in cliffs

When active: Spring to summer

Where seen: Across the UK

Wool Carder Bee

Wool carder bees are unmistakable with their distinctive bright yellow colouring that runs along its abdomen. Males and females are similarly coloured. However, the fiercely territorial males are larger and have short spines across their backs.

These solitary bees nest underground in burrows in loose sandy soil or in cliffs close to their favourite flowers. As with many solitary bee species, wool carder bees accidentally pick up and carry pollen on hairs on the underside of their abdomens. The pollen is then delivered to another flower in a process called pollination.