If I were a king I would willingly give up my domains and dominions for the tawny mining bee. What’s a potentate’s throne beside the small tangle of back garden on which I encountered this spring bee last week?Just emerged from hibernation, it lay in the sun on the long grass. Gradually warming, it looked so new that it made the whole world seem freshly created.Tawny is too thin a word. After a long winter of sere and ashen grey, the tawny mining bee is a sudden, bright brush splashing colour wherever it flies.Part fiery ginger, part fox, part midnight black, this bee burns brilliantly, lighting the darkest heart. Nesting underground, it is also known as the lawn bee for its habit of rearing its colonies in gardens.Look out for little volcanoes of soil among the daisies. Its a