Sustainable Skerries Committee Member Brendan Muldoon writes:

On a recent trip to the Ballygossan Park Playground in Skerries my eye was drawn to a rather barren-looking patch of ground in the playground. On closer inspection, I noticed that there were in fact many tiny, inconspicuous holes dotted throughout this area. Perhaps inspired by the recent Sustainable Skerries online talk on insects by Dave Goulson – I was intrigued as to what the tiny holes might be.  

Following a little bit of research (and confirmation from our local bee experts Charlie and Marion) it turns out these tiny holes are the nesting sites for solitary, wild bees. This shows that you can find some very interesting wildlife in the most surprising of places! Solitary bees are harmless. They do have a mild sting, but rarely use it. They generally just buzz around when disturbed.

I guess it also tells us that even a seemingly barren patch of earth can still be playing an important role in the ecosystem even if it is hard to see with the naked eye. Find out more about native solitary bees @ https://pollinators.ie/record-pollinators/solitary-bees-for-beginners/