The Hollyhocks are doing well in the garden and with the sunshine I have found the Tetralonia returning to the Hollyhocks.
I am ever grateful to a commentator, el. gritchie, who pointed me in the right direction when I was totally unaware of this genera.
I love checking out the hollyhocks in the evening as there are always Tetralonia bedded down from the night. Hollyhocks are Alcea, part of the mallow family Malvaceae. This would point to an identification of Tetralonia malvae for these bees. However, I can find out very little information about them and so I could easily confuse them with other species in this genera.
I took the opportunity to pop this poor unsuspecting bee into a plastic pot after it had settled down for the night in one of my hollyhocks. After a little while in my fridge he was even sleeper and I managed to take some posed photographs.
Unfortunately, I am really none the wiser at the moment but I now have some photographs for future comparison. He was then placed back in the same Hollyhock. I have noticed they can return to the same flowerlet on subsequent nights. The hollyhocks provide good protection from the elements during the night and I suppose there is a fresh supply of nectar ready in the morning.
I have another beautiful plant in the garden that also grows in the woods nearby. It is Althaea officinalis, that is Guimauve or Marsh Mallow also from the family Malvaceae.
The marshmallow pink colour of the Guimauve pollen makes the female Tetralonia even more spectacular.
Bees in a French Garden 
I don’t have any hollyhocks but I see them growing by the side of motorways sometimes.
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I bet there will be some cute bees inside them in Italy! Amelia
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Your garden does attract a good range of solitary bees, what do you think is the secret? I dont see that many but I suspect I dont yet know enough about identification. Philip
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The more sorts of flowers I’ve had, the more bees I see. Some bees are attracted to a particular flower and you can attract them by growing that flower or in some cases its just that family of flowers. At the moment the lavender is out and at one go I saw four different solitary bees, several bumbles and some honey bees on it. It is warm and sunny today so that is also what the bees like. Amelia
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I have been examining my hollyhocks every 5 minutes in hope, but so far no luck 🙂
BTW, I thought you might be interested in this blog post by Australian wildlife guide and all round beardy good guy Ian Fraser: <a href="http://ianfrasertalkingnaturally.blogspot.fr/2014/07/the-pollination-story-part-1-beginnings.html"
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You never know when they will happen along and thanks for the link. Amelia
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