BEE BEAUTIFUL

As we have recently recorded a bee orchid on one of our very urban Midlands sites where we have not been cutting the grass too short (a vindication of our “parkland” mowing policy), I thought I would provide a little botanical information about this beautiful wild plant.

The bee orchid Ophrys apifera Hudson 1761 is a perennial monocotyledon, growing at most to a height of 60cm and usually half that or less, with spikes of up to a dozen very variable, ca. 3cm wide flowers but usually fewer. Ophrys is the ancient Greek for the eyebrow (ἡ ὀφρῦς) and apifera comes from the Latin (fĕro, to carry or bring and apis, a bee). It flowers in June and July, growing from underground tubers and forming a rosette of basal leaves in the autumn to bloom the following year. Seeds are minute and require a symbiotic fungus to grow. This orchid as a good colonist and is not uncommon on disturbed ground, especially if it is base-rich; it is not infrequently found in urban areas.

The flowers are thought to be mainly self-pollinating, but it is also known that some bees are attracted to them, deceived by the brown, “furry”, bee-like labellum and an odour that mimics that of the females of certain bee species. Chemical scents of this type are known as allomones, substances emitted by one species that affect the behaviour of another. The solitary longhorn bee Eucera longicornis (Linnaeus, 1758) is one such, the males being attracted to the orchid flower leading to what is called “pseudocopulation” in which pollen is transferred between the flower to the excited bee. 

Betts Ecology help to encourage this and other grassland orchids by not cutting grass too short, encouraging a mosaic of habitats on our sites and avoiding herbicides and fertilizers

 © Betts Ecology