Let It Bee

I have only ever seen one Leaf Cutter Bee in my career. Ive been gardening for 10 years this year. Ive seen heaps of the damage they cause, but only one bee, possibly two but I cant be sure about the second. To be quite frank, Im quite proud of that. Some coworkers, through out my career, have never physically seen the bee before and theyve been gardening alot longer then me. If I had to describe them, they basically look like a very chunky bee with a big head and is hairy underneath the abdomen. The one I saw looked a bit blue, but thats the best description I can give. The two photos show the damage they cause. Very neat, almost perfect circles cut out of the sides of the leaves. Ive mainly seen the damage on roses (particularly the iceberg variety and the newer leaves of other varieties), but they will cut up any soft leaved plant. If it were caterpillar damage, then the damage would be alot more irregular, and random. Its the female bee that causes the damage, as she cuts the leaves and uses them to make nests for her eggs. The nests are primarily made in small, existing holes in logs, wood, etc, but can be made in the soil, depending on the species. Spring and summer is when the main damage occurs and unfortunately there isnt much you can do about it. Then again, Leaf Cutter Bees typically dont cause much harm, the plant looks unsightly for a little bit but Ive never known a rose to die from a few chewed off leaves. Just let it be, please, its a garden, half the fun of gardening is that it isnt meant to be perfect. For the curious, the rose in the top photo is suffering from a bit of scorch too, due to the reflected heat from the brick wall behind it. Scorch is just the tips of the leaves burning and is caused by many factors, primarily a combination of heat and lack of water.