Potter Flower Bee

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, 26 June 2023
Potter Flower Bee
Potter Flower Bee © Alex Worsley

By James Power, author of The Bees of Sussex

Guest blog

The Potter Flower Bee (Anthophora retusa) is a very striking bee and, despite lots of pressures, maintains a toe-hold in Sussex. Its hold here is not as strong as it once was though, and it is now only found along a short section of cliffs at Seaford Head. Away from Sussex, it is known from just two other locations in Britain, small areas of coastline on the Isle of Wight and from Purbeck in Dorset. Previously, it was known from across southern England but is now one of the rarest bees in the country.

It nests in the cliffs at Seaford Head, making its nest burrows in the sandy soils that sit on top of the chalk here. Because of this, it is very vulnerable to erosion by the sea with a high proportion of the colony lost periodically as a new section of cliff falls away, taking the bees with them.

The Potter Flower Bee is generally found flying within 75 m of the cliff edge where the males are often a grey blur as they fly rapidly between patches of Ground-ivy. The very different looking females – they are covered in black hairs – also move quickly, gathering pollen and nectar that they carry back to their nests to build or provision their brood cells with. Each cell is lined with what is believed to be a mix of nectar and soil that, once dry, resembles egg shell. Within this, the developing bee floats on top of a liquid supply of food made up of pollen and nectar, slowly sinking as it puts on weight.

This species had been thought to be extinct in Sussex until the discovery of this colony in 1967 and, happily, it is still seen in reasonable numbers every year. Looking ahead, it is difficult to know how it will fare as our climate becomes more challenging, but work by the Sussex Wildlife Trust does at least ensure that the nature reserve at Seaford Head provides good quality habitat and a good supply of pollen and nectar.

James Power worked at the Sussex Wildlife Trust for many years. More recently, most of his time and energy has gone into researching and writing The Bees of Sussex to be to be published in 2024.r

Potter Flower Bee filmed at Seaford Head © Alex Worsley

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Comments

  • john c yearley:

    Realy excellent video of the beautiful and rare bee and an excellent informative article but surprisingly no scientific name mentioned. I found the scientific name after a bit of searching but it would have been useful to have included it in the write up. Just a comment not a criticism. I loved the video and article. John Yearley

    13 Jul 2023 19:21:00

  • Sussex Wildlife Trust:

    Hi John, thank you for your comment, we have now added the scientific name to our blog

  • Catharine Finch:

    About a month ago we had two enormous bees which came out of a hole in our garden. They only had the one orange stripe round their tums and they measured almost 3cm long by 2cm across and looked just like this potter flower bed. Ive never seen a be so big. I have a photo but can’t see how to send it to you.

    14 Jul 2023 15:12:00

  • Suki:

    So beautiful. It is good to know that this bee still has a relatively safe spot from which to feed and breed. Lovely photography and film. Thanks.

    20 Jul 2023 11:22:00

  • Steve Homewood:

    Fascinating but very worrying that these bees might No be able to survive increasing erosion events. I’m an independent naturalist based in Lewes but spend a lot of time taking guided walks & talks from Tidemills to Cuckmerehaven and I’m rather hoping the various digger wasps and mining bees can be given a bit of help. There is a concentration of them just up a wee way from Splash point and the huge increase of visitors are walking right over them without even noticing! Might the powers that be, be able to move the Cliffe edge fence a little to protect them? Steve

    20 Jul 2023 16:31:00

  • Chris:

    wow. that was fascinating and reassuring to know that they are still there.
    I thoroughly enjoy all the clips and exercises the organisations present to us. I’ll keep watching.

    03 Aug 2023 09:48:00

  • Jill Burrows:

    Just watching Countryfile on The Isle of Wight and there’s a segment about this very rare Bee. So interesting and The National Trust are making sure that the Potter Flower Bee continues to thrive 🐝 ❤️

    07 Jun 2026 17:44:00

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