Spot the pencil-thin black bee with tiny white bands — and look inside buttercups at dusk! Males of the Scissor Bee sometimes sleep in the flowers, which is why it’s nicknamed the “Sleepy Carpenter Bee”.

✂️ What makes it special

A slim, cylindrical solitary bee (7–11 mm). Females have long, scissor-like jaws; males are a touch slimmer and carry a little wedge-shaped spike under the body. It’s gentle, fast and usually hugs low meadow flowers.

• Looks: black with neat white fringe bands across the abdomen, long face.
• Nickname: “Sleepy” because males nap inside buttercups.
• Not a bumblebee: it’s in the Megachilidae family (the “builders”).

👀 Where & when

• Season: May–July (one generation per year).
• Places: woodland edges, meadows, orchard margins; most widespread in England & Wales.
• Flowers: especially buttercups (Ranunculus) — watch them hover then slip inside the petals.

🏨 Nesting (tiny holes!)

She chooses ready-made narrow cavities: old beetle borings in dead wood or hollow plant stems — and will use very small bee-hotel tubes (about 3–5 mm wide).

• Builds a row of cells inside the tunnel,
• Stocks each with pollen + nectar, lays one egg, seals it,
• Finishes with a tidy end plug.

🐣 Life cycle

• Spring–early summer: Adults emerge, mate; females nest.
• Summer: Larvae grow inside the sealed cells.
• Autumn–winter: Pupate and rest, ready for next year.

🌼 Why it matters

This bee is a buttercup specialist (oligolectic) and helps keep spring meadows buzzing. Its narrow-tube hotel preference also teaches us that not all bees want big holes.

🌍 How you can help

• Leave a strip of buttercups or allow a spring meadow patch.
• Add a bee hotel with 3–5 mm tubes, plus bundles of hollow stems.
• Keep some dead wood; avoid pesticides.

Quick facts: Scissor Bee / Sleepy Carpenter Bee (Chelostoma florisomne) • 7–11 mm • flies May–July • widespread in England & Wales.

📱 Keep walking the trail to meet more of Bernie’s friends — and help them too.