Cutting Skills

We’ve spent a lot of today in the garden. The big ambition was to fill the green bin for collection on Tuesday. Mission accomplished.

Whilst we were busying ourselves, the leaf-cutter bees were equally busy. They like to cut semi-circular sections from our Gertrude Jekyl rose, lots of its leaves show evidence of the bees activity. The other two roses and the other plants they pass over.

Cutting takes no time at all. They cut out the semi-circle of leaf with their sharp mandibles, hold it between their legs, and then fly to the bee hotel and the cell they are sealing.