I’ve been looking for these late-flying bees the past couple of autumns, so I’m glad they have reached my neck of the woods this year. These stripey Colletes bees fly from September to November, timed to match when Ivy is in flower, and nest (sometimes in huge colonies) in sandy South facing slopes. The ivy on our wall is now flowering and attracting lots of insects, and several of these bees were present. Ivy Bee is another non-native species in UK, first recorded in 2001 and now spread across southern England and Wales.