Bee-fly
By Charlotte Owen
WildCall Officer
As spring gets underway and flowers begin to bloom, we start to see more insects on the wing. Alongside the familiar buzz of the bumblebees, busily foraging for nectar and pollen, keep an eye out for something a little bit different. It certainly looks like a bee, and it even buzzes like a bee, but its legs are a bit too gangly and there is a long, pointy bit at the front. Is it a bee? Is it a fly? Well, it’s a bee-fly.
The bee-fly is somewhat unimaginatively named for its half-bee, half-fly appearance. It is in fact all-fly but it has evolved a cunning disguise so that it can masquerade as a fluffy bumblebee. There are four species of bee-fly in Britain but the one most commonly seen is the dark-edged bee-fly, which has a dark-coloured band along the front edge of each wing - but this can be hard to see unless the bee-fly settles. They often visit gardens and parks, especially in spring, and the long ‘nose’ is actually a tongue, or proboscis, used to sip nectar from its favourite flowers: primrose, ground ivy, blackthorn and wild cherry.
They don’t sting or bite and are completely harmless to humans but they do have a dark side. Bee-flies are parasites and lay their eggs in the nests of solitary mining bees - the ones that dig tiny burrows in the ground. The bee-fly larvae hatch out and lurk in the shadows until the unsuspecting bee larvae are big and juicy enough to make a decent meal. If you spot a bee-fly on the ground it’s likely to be a female getting ready to lay an egg, and it’s a fascinating process. She will first dip the tip of her abdomen into the soil to coat the tiny egg with soil particles, which provides useful camouflage but also adds some strategic weight. This is key to delivery: she will hover over the entrance of a mining bee’s burrow and flick the egg towards the tunnel, like throwing a dart, and the added weight makes it a lot easier for her to score a bullseye.
Please share your sightings with Bee-Fly Watch
dotted bee-fly © Michael Blencowe
Comments
Bee fly Seen a week ago in my front garden No. 15 PO22 8BS
28 Mar 2019 12:34:00
Just seen your email while sitting in Dorset pub and had been wondering about the insect. Pleased to know it was a bee-fly. Sorry we can’t say we’re in Sussex.
28 Mar 2019 13:10:00
I’ve been reading up about these as we have a huge colony of solitary mining bees on our sunny chalky sloped garden. Last week the lawn was covered in lawn bees and what we assumed were their larvae cases. We were worried for the bees, but the next day we had almost as many as usual merging from their nests so they don’t seem to have been too badly affected.
28 Mar 2019 13:13:00
Hi, I saw my first bee-fly last weekend! So excited, I thought I could register my sighting as I hadn’t seen one in Sussex before, but couldn’t find where to do it. Maybe they’re common now.
28 Mar 2019 13:25:00
I saw one of these “ bee flies” last year during early summer. Nice to know what they are known as. One hears about pollinating insects decreasing. Given, in this case, that they eat one another, it is not surprising.
28 Mar 2019 14:09:00
Thank you. We have bee flies here every spring. We also have mining bees, but they don’t seem solitary. We have a number in the same area. Would each tunnel belong to just one bee? Our bees are black and seem to be gone some time in the summer. Could we have an article on them too, please.
28 Mar 2019 14:21:00
Hi, I saw my first bee-fly last weekend! So excited, I thought I could register my sighting as I hadn’t seen one in Sussex before, but couldn’t find where to do it. Maybe they’re common now.
28 Mar 2019 14:49:00
There are loads of them in my garden at the moment :-)
28 Mar 2019 15:37:00
I saw one yesterday 28 March was about to video it as never seen one before but it flew away before I could. Thank you now I know what it is.
28 Mar 2019 15:47:00
Saw one near Ashurst, West Sussex, a few days ago. Have seen them in previousyears here.
28 Mar 2019 17:00:00
Saw one yesterday in my garden in Ovingdean. Beautiful.
28 Mar 2019 17:37:00
We saw our first Bee-fly last Monday 25th March at Iping Common while eating our lunch and enjoying a Siskin singing in the mature pines.
28 Mar 2019 17:44:00
They’ve been busy in the garden today near Chichester. Noticed my first ones on the 25th.
28 Mar 2019 18:10:00
Terrific post
28 Mar 2019 18:25:00
Aah. How interesting. I have these in my East Sussex garden every year, including this one, and always referred to the as a fly-like bee! Now I can give them their real name, though it is very similar.
28 Mar 2019 18:26:00
I saw a bee fly ( which a friend of mine told me what it was) it was in my garden 3 miles from Chichester, West Sussex.
At the bottom of the South Downs.
28 Mar 2019 18:47:00
Saw Bee-fly Sunday 24th in garden in Sussex.
Always happy to see an insect that doesn’t sting or bite!
28 Mar 2019 19:29:00
Bee fly seen this afternoon on bluebell leaves in garden BN16 1EF
28 Mar 2019 19:52:00
We have spotted our first bee-fly in Hove, in the back garden mid-day. Very excited by it. I was reading about them in this article; my wife started telling me about this odd “bee” she had just scene. Thanks Sussex Wildlife Trust. You did good education today!
28 Mar 2019 20:22:00
All records welcome for Bee-fly Watch! See: http://www.brc.ac.uk/soldierflies-and-allies/bee-fly-watch (Sussex records are shared with the records centre)
28 Mar 2019 23:39:22
I work outside with plants every day, so will be looking for this species with interest.
Thanks for the info.
29 Mar 2019 00:20:13
Live in Worthing and get these every year
29 Mar 2019 00:25:04
I saw a bee fly come to a pot of geraniums whilst sitting on my south facing patio in Worthing enjoying the sunshine. Last year I also saw some in the same area but didn’t know then, what they were.
29 Mar 2019 06:28:00
Last week my neighbour showed me a bee fly she spotted in her garden in Steyning. We’d never seen one before.
29 Mar 2019 09:26:00
Been seeing them for the last couple of weeks on primulas and milkmaids. Delightful.
29 Mar 2019 14:09:00
Saw 3 in my Horsham garden on Wednesday 27th, mainly around primroses. I guess this means there are mining bees around, so now I need to find out what they look like and keep an eye out for them too!
29 Mar 2019 18:42:00
Saw one today at Ditching common lnr, in area of coppiced woodland. Appeared to be using proboscis to drink, no flowers in area.
29 Mar 2019 20:31:00
Thanks for the info. I saw an insect on our forget-me-nots. It appeared to have a ‘pointed’ head and a proboscis as its head was some distance from the flower. It had an orange band across its brown furry back. So I’m guessing, but I hope it is one type of bee-fly
29 Mar 2019 21:36:00
Thanks for info. Bee fly at bn86ll 28 March.
30 Mar 2019 08:11:00
Thank you for showing me what a bee-fly looks like, I saw 2 in Gillridge Lane, Crowborough, this am.
30 Mar 2019 13:54:00
Spotted several Bee Flies in Bluebell wood at Slindon on 29th March 2019.
30 Mar 2019 14:23:00
Saw a bee fly yesterday (29th March) when visiting a friend in Little Breach, Chichester. Will be vigilant in my own garden now!
30 Mar 2019 20:33:00
Bee fly spotted Tuesday 26th March near Fawsley Hall Fawsley Northamptonshire
31 Mar 2019 10:21:00
Seen a bee-fly today feeding on forget-me-not flowers in my garden in Ferring. It looks a bit like a hummingbird moth 🐝
31 Mar 2019 15:03:00
Saw one in my front garden in Horsham yesterday, lovely!
31 Mar 2019 18:08:00
I saw two furry 4mm ‘bee-flies’ feeding on ‘for-get-me-nots’ a few weeks ago in mid -April. Hadn’t seen these charming flies before. Haven’t seen them since. Peacehaven.
25 May 2019 11:24:00
15/8/2022.
I’d finished breakfast in my garden in North Wiltshire and was rewarded by observing this insect on my Valeria.
It was fascinating to watch it in hovering and feeding at the same time.
I had no idea what it was, researched it in my nature book and online and I’m very happy to have seen it and learnt about it.
Thank you allowing me to post on your site.
15 Aug 2022 07:52:00
We have orange tipped wing bee-fly with striped rear end, very beautiful but cannot locate full description on website. Is this species very rare, if so, it is resident in our area!😀
23 Aug 2022 08:46:00
For the last few years I have noticed quite a large number of what I suspect are bee flies. They fly low tothe ground but don’t settle long enough for me to see them properly. When I first noticed theme, I thought they were tiny bees, they were flying around forget-me- notes, but only in one corner of the garden although there are forget-me-notes all around the garden PO6 1NH
30 Apr 2023 14:43:00
Seen a Bee Fly yesterday feeding on my primroses for the first time. Fascinating. I live just north of Inverness. 11/05/23
11 May 2023 10:24:00
The bee fly which I seen was white with a bit of black
03 Aug 2023 17:13:00
Spotted one in garden today, hovering around flowers in Fareham Hampshire
07 Aug 2023 08:25:00
Bee Flies seen over the past week or so in my back garden in Worthing, West Sussex.
11 Apr 2024 13:30:00
This is the first time April 12 2025, I have ever seen this Bee Fly in my garden in Essex! I watch them ‘Drilling their nest holes in the dry sandy soil of a flower.
12 Apr 2025 14:16:00
Bee fly seen on our amaryllis in urban Berkshire
30 Mar 2026 09:41:00