More red mason bees

The first red mason bees emerged very early this year, probably encouraged by the warm weather at Easter.  Since then it has been cold and most of the bees in the bee house and in the south wall of the house have yet to emerge. Most of those I see are in and around three dead sycamores near the front door.   I drilled a lot of holes in the trees last year, most of which face south and west.  The male red mason bees sleep in the holes overnight and peer out of them in the morning, waiting for things to warm up.  They have powerful mandibles, used for chewing their way out of their cocoons and mud-walled cells.

Here are a few more portraits.

This one is a female.  She has a black face with two horns used for building the mud walls in the nest hole - hence her name Osmia bicornis.  She also has pollen on her face.

Sometimes the bees come out and crawl round to the sunny side of the trunk to help them warm up.