bees🐝

For a number of years I get buff-tailed bumblebees using the broken away bottom of one of my sheds as a nest, but they’ve upped their game this year and I’ve got a colony of them nesting there, I’ve had them buzzing past my head when I’ve been sorting stuff out in the garden, and they’ve been coming and going five or six at a time, almost bumping into each other, it’s been great fun to watch them! My raspberries second crop has been benefiting especially well!

Not great photos, but they’re tricky little things to photograph, they don’t give you much warning when they come and go…

No wasps have been seen so far and they normally love my apple tree.

I haven’t seen many wasps this year, but I woke up early this morning, and I could hear an odd noise, checked behind my bedroom curtain and there was a wasp desperately trying to get through my double glazing, so I opened the window and let it out, then earlier this evening I was water all my pots and stuff, and I saw something on my raspberry flowers that looked too big for a honeybee, and it was a wasp, acting as a pollinator.

“It’s a bumblybee, Yogi!”

something honeybees something …

but from grimep’s own, rather supercilious link:

Wild bees have recently been proven to perform the bulk of commercial crop pollination and current best estimates are that overall honey bees are only responsible for 30% of insect dependant crop pollination in the UK. There are also individuals and organisations with financial interests in honey bees who whilst aware of the situation perpetuate honey bees in danger messages and encourage more urban hives for their financial gain.

The decline in wild bees has serious implications for agriculture and ecosystems services.

neighbours have lots of honey bees in their porch. I’m a bit concerned their landlord will take a shortcut and try to kill them all, rather than have them removed, but they’re still there at the moment. he’ll need to take the porch roof down to get at them anyway so hopefully he’ll just get a proper job done and have them relocated.

lots of bumble bee of various types, not too many wasps as I’ve managed to discourage nesting this spring by coating every possible entrance with WD40!

a ton of midgies and mossies but I don’t think they count.