Someone said that this is one of the quite rare Bees, but as they’re all getting increasingly rare almost by the day, I guess it doesn’t matter quite so much! This one was drawn to the Water Mint flowers growing on a Gloucestershire water margin. I could smell the plant’s sickly-sweet aroma from several metres away and well before I actually saw them. Rubbing a leaf or two onto your boots and trousers releases an almost overpowering scent by the way, which is useful for masking your own scent the next time you’re being hunted by tracker dogs!