Fade to grey

During the brief periods of sunshine yesterday I made some attempt to photograph some of the bees visiting the flowering patches around the house. Visiting the primroses and white deadnettles were these guys, Hairy-footed Flower bees Anthophora plumipes.

These bees emerge from hibernation in early spring, from late February to March. The males emerge first and then the females a couple of weeks later. They feed on the nectar using their long tongues, which can be seen in the picture of the flying female where her tongue is extended.

The males look very different. They start out much more buff in colour but fade to grey as they age. And check the hairy legs out in the bottom pic!