These are found in southern Wales and south-west England and are generally scarce across their range, but they are on the move. These are on the wing from early May to mid-August, peaking in June to early July. Trautwein, Michelle D.; Wiegmann, Brian M.; Yeates, David K. (2011). "Overcoming the effects of rogue taxa: Evolutionary relationships of the bee flies". PLOS Currents. 3: RRN1233. doi: 10.1371/currents.RRN1233. PMC 3088465. PMID 21686308.

Downes, William L. Jr.; Dahlem, Gregory A. (1987). "Keys to the Evolution of Diptera: Role of Homoptera". Environmental Entomology. 16 (4): 847–854. doi: 10.1093/ee/16.4.847. Zhu, Junwei J; Zhang, Qing-he; Taylor, David B; Friesen, Kristina A (1 September 2016). "Visual and olfactory enhancement of stable fly trapping". Pest Management Science. 72 (9): 1765–1771. doi: 10.1002/ps.4207. PMID 26662853.Egelhaaf, Martin (1985). "On the neuronal basis of figure-ground discrimination by relative motion in the visual system of the fly". Biological Cybernetics. 52 (3): 195–209. doi: 10.1007/BF00339948. S2CID 227306897.

A paper entitled “ The Effects of Meteorological Factors on Defensive Behaviour of Honey Bees”, published in the International Journal of Biometeorology, showed that honey bees change their behaviour when a large storm was on its way to the area. The researchers found that honey bees displayed increased defensive behaviour in reaction to environmental influences such as weather conditions, humidity, temperature, UV Rays, air pressure, and wind speed. Yeates, David K. 1994. The cladistics and classification of the Bombyliidae (Diptera: Asiloidea). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History; no. 219, 191 pp. Yeates, David K.; Meier, Rudolf; Wiegmann, Brian. "Phylogeny of True Flies (Diptera): A 250 Million Year Old Success Story in Terrestrial Diversification". Flytree. Illinois Natural History Survey. Archived from the original on 28 December 2015 . Retrieved 24 May 2016. This one has only been seen twice in the last few years so let’s make this the year to truly explore our countryside for these amazing beasts.Dr Erica McAlister is the senior curator of Diptera at the Natural History Museum of London, a committee member of The Dipterists Forum and president of the Amateur Entomologists' Society. Certain aspects of the methods bees, and other insects, fly are being used in the development of tiny flying robots, such as the Harvard-engineered RoboBee. In the same study, male B. major preferred plants similar to females, with the exception of dandelion. However, an examination of the gut showed a regularly lower amount of pollen than in females. Males consistently consume less quantities of pollen than females. Ingestion of pollen differs throughout a male life cycle, with more pollen being consumed in towards earlier stages. Overall, males had a preference for nectar and fed on significantly greater portions of nectar over pollen. [11] Behavior [ edit ] As well as two large compound eyes on either side of its head, the bee has three 'ocelli' on the top of its head. The ocelli can detect the transition from darkness to light. They use them to detect where the horizon is. If the horizon moves up it means the bee is flying down so it can rotate the angle of its wings to compensate. In this way the bee can make sure it is flying along a flat plain to achieve a greater distance over a shorter space of time.

There is much diversity in the insect world. For instance, bumble bees and honey bees are alike in some characteristics. But, their size and life style is different. Their bodies must perform different tasks. This leads to some variation between average flight speed of various bees and wasps. a b Foote, B A (1995). "Biology of Shore Flies". Annual Review of Entomology. 40: 417–442. doi: 10.1146/annurev.en.40.010195.002221.

Bibliographic details:

Engel, E.O., 1932-1937. Bombyliidae. In: Die Fliegen der paläarktischen Region 4(3) ( Erwin Lindner, ed.): 1-619, pl. 1-15. E. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.). Old and outdated, not easy to get and expensive but some of the only keys to taxa in the Palaearctic Region. B. major can be found from April to June throughout temperate Europe, North America and some parts of Asia, concentrated in the northern hemisphere. [2] The species occurs across a variety of environments, from arid to moist. [2] Morphology [ edit ] Large bee fly in early springtime (video, 2m 10s) According to 2 Kgs 1:2–6 the name of the Philistine god of Ekron was Lord of the Flies (Heb. ba‘al zeaûḇ), from whom Israel’s King Ahaziah requested an oracle.", Balz, H. R., & Schneider, G. (1990–). Vol. 1: Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament (211). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. Honey bees use four flexible wings to make short, fast, sweeping motions which creates enough lift to let them fly.

Yuval, B.; Bouskila, A. (1 March 1993). "Temporal dynamics of mating and predation in mosquito swarms". Oecologia. 95 (1): 65–69. Bibcode: 1993Oecol..95...65Y. doi: 10.1007/BF00649508. ISSN 1432-1939. PMID 28313313. S2CID 22921039. Ye, Xiuna; Yao, Gang; Shih, Chungkun; Ren, Dong; Wang, Yongjie (August 2019). "New bee flies from the mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber (Brachycera: Asiloidea: Bombyliidae)". Cretaceous Research. 100: 5–13. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2019.03.026. S2CID 135365568. The honey bee is the only bee to maintain a colony throughout the winter. The colony reduces its size in autumn and relies on its stores of honey to last it through the winter months when it is too cold for foraging or there is no forage available. The colony clusters together inside the hive to keep warm using their bodies to generate heat with the bees taking turns to be on the cold outside. The queen will remain at the centre of the cluster. On warmer days honey bees will go on ‘cleansing flights’ to relieve themselves of waste.Answers to some frequently asked questions about what happens when an Asian Hornet nest is found. Updated 18th October 2023. Most species of bees are not early-birds, nor are they night-owls, with most flight times being between 9am to 5pm. However, this does vary from species to species. The location of the hive will also influence when bees are out and about, along with other local factors such as the weather, and if there are any potential hazards near the hive. Do bees fly at night? If you are sure they are honey bees then you can input your postcode to find a volunteer beekeeper who may be willing to collect the swarm. However, beekeepers are not normally able to collect honey bees from roof voids, cavity walls and chimneys. Further information if you have bees in the structure of your property: Bees in Buildings Other bees