They are known from Austria, Belgium, Channel Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, southern England, Wales, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.

The thorax of the adults is covered by dense orange-brown hair, while each abdominal segment has an apical orangey hair-band.

The females supply the larval brood cells almost exclusively with nectar and pollen of ivy flowers.

When ivy flowering is delayed, females may also collect pollen at various members of the Daisy family (Asteraceae).

In parts of the west European range of the species, Colletes hederae are frequently parasitized by the larvae of the meloid beetle Stenoria analis,[2] which feed on the supply of nectar and pollen prepared by females bees in their nests.