bumble bees

[georgie]

Has anyone else noticed the large numbers of bumble bees in gardens this year? :)

I did make an effort to grow more bee friendly plants like foxgloves and comfrey this year and I think it's reaping dividends. They seem to particularly love the angelica - which I grow because it's a lovely looking plant, but it has a horrible smell!!

Anyway, it's either the good plants or or a mild winter which has ensured a good survival rate.

I also found a bee nest this year which was particularly edifying as the beasties have chosen my home made nest 'box' (upturned plant pot over hamster bedding, surrounded by stones) over the commercial shop bought one.

I think I may join the bumble bee recording scheme if I get proficient at identification. ...

[Jenny]

Georgie, you're right! We have bumble (and others only not too good at recognising them yet - shall have to get the book!) bees in droves - never had a summer like it up here - it's like being back in my old cottage style garden in Warwickshire! We had a mild winter, albeit it hardly stopped raining from November to end Jan, which may have helped. Let me know if you find an idiot proof, non-technical guide - what's the CJ's one like?

[georgie]

Hello Jenny,

Well, I'm so glad someone else is interested in bees!

I feel fairly much a novice at the bee identification.... and on a steep learning curve. Females and males of many species have different markings (I hadn't realised that).... and also there are species called 'cuckoo bees' that take over the nests of others, and these appear to be fairly commonly found, and may resemble their hosts to a greater or lesser degree.

After initial misidentification! I am pretty sure my bees are Bombus pratorum (common name the early bumble bee), which are, I quote, 'a widespread species, found in many habitats including gardens'.

I'm afraid I haven't checked up on which book CJ are offering ( I will look forthwith), but I've got hold of 'The Field Guide to the Bumblebees of great Britain and Ireland by Mike Edwards and Martin Jenner, published by Ocelli. I like this in particular because it gives common names at the back, also suggestions of plants to grow for them throughout the year, and the identifications are made by counting the number and colours of the bands on the thorax and abdomen of the bees. I think that for the trickier species you have to gently capture them and have a close look at face shape and 'bits' but I haven't graduated to this level of skill!

I don't know where you live but guess from your previous postings that you are on a Scottish island?..... well I see that there seem to be various bee species found only in such locations and not elsewhere in Great Britain. So you may well have some exciting and rare species!

All the best,

Georgie

[Jenny]

Georgie,

Never knew that - none of the wildlife crowd up here have ever mentioned bees. Come to think of it, few mention flowers - even when visitors frequently are agog at the wild edible strawberries around (the cracks in my patio (!) area are full of these, my having knocked off the carrots!!!

Maybe Mull (where I live) doesn't have the exotica!! Will see what's in our bookshop.

Cheers, J

[georgie]

Hi Jenny,

Well my book seems to indicate that the Hebrides have some of their own unique bees but I'm afraid I don't know whether Mull has its own rarities! (does Mull count as 'its own thing' or does it get grouped in with other islands?).

I have now started taking photos of bees in my garden and submitting them to the bumblebee recording scheme. And this means I spend loads more time looking at bees in the garden and thinking about what flowers they seem to like. It's amazing how you can end up wasting time........

[angie a]

Now I know where all the bees have gone from my garden - they've all gone north! I've had very few bees of any sort this year. I had loads of flower on my broad beans & was looking forward to a bumper crop -no bees, so no beans. Even my lovely lavender bush had no visitors. Would you send them back down to Berkshire, so that I can have some runner beans please !!!

[Jenny]

Georgie, been a manic week and not got near the bookshop to suss out what they'd got. Re colour coding, does your book have the same system as:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/bombus/key_british_colour_info.html

I have some bees here that are very yellow - at first I thought that their heads were covered in pollen but they were feeding on clover and a closer look showed that their colouration was yellow at the top, then a bit of black round thorax and abdomen was predominantly yellow with black towards what I call the tail bit. It's about half the size of what I guess we call a normal bumblebee. I don't recall having seen one like it before.

As regards "the Hebrides" - these are split into two - inner and outer. Inner include Skye, Mull, Coll, Tiree, Islay, Jura etc., whereas the outer are Lewis, Harris, North Uist (where I used to work), Benbecula, South Uist, Barra, Eriskay etc. But whether this distinction is recognised in books, I don't know!

PS see rabbit posting!

[georgie]

Hi Jenny,

Well I think the bee id code I'm following from 'The Field Guide to the bumblebees of Great Britain and Ireland' looks similar but slightly less complex than the NHM system.

Just recently however, I have acquired a digital camera and having spent some time trying to get used to using the blooming thing, I did try snapping some bees.

The bumble bee conservation trust people say that if you send them a piccy of your bees they will try and help. I was very much a novice with the camera and assumed the pictures were very poor, but (having worked out how to send the snaps in the e mail!) I did send them off and I received a very kind reply re both the identification of my species, and an assurance that my pictures weren't the worst they had ever seen! And like most things the more you practise taking pictures the better you will get.

The bee people also said they were very interested in any records of nests - so I have also taken photos of my bee nest (now sadly empty - I understand the nests don't always last long)

So maybe this info will be of use to you - I assume you are a dab hand with your digital camera because when you mentioned the saga of the rabbit devastated orchids, you said you had managed to take pictures of the plants before their demise.

The bees I have in my garden are all very common species, but I would think there's a good chance that at least some of yours might be more of the rarer types. I would recommend that if you are at all interested in recording your bee species that you join their scheme.

From what you said your bee sounds like a 'carder bee' species - these are ones that 'card' moss between their legs when making their nests. They seem to be largely orange but I think that some seem to look darkish in areas because their hairs can be worn away. I get the common carder in my garden - they are frequent visitors and don't seem to mind the poor weather.

Ah well, good luck with the bee watching!

Georgie.

[georgie]

Angie A,

Sorry to hear of your lack of bees..... actually having been so smug about the bees earlier in the year when it was dry and fine, I now am noticing a reduction in their numbers. There are still quite a number expecially when the sun is shining, but there are fewer species and fewer numbers. I think the recent constantly wet weather has knocked them back a bit.

Is it worth misting your beans with a plant sprayer filled with water? That may enhance pollination I understand.......

Do you have any other plants (other than veg) on which bees can feed? If you (and your neighbours) have loads of flowering shrubs and plants like foxgloves, comfrey, lavender etc that SHOULD (in theory) bring them in.

Anyway I hope things get better,

All the best,

Georgie

[Jenny]

Just posted reply Angie and think I hit wrong button! No bees pollenating my runner beans for three years so may I have wrong bees!

Georgie has a point - see my reply to her (about to post) - Jenny

[Jenny]

Georgie

Maybe it is purely and simply plant food and weather. We're having a really dry (for us) season. April was almost dead dry, May wet, June - when those poor people were drowned and washed out of their homes for forseeable future - we had great sunshine though month overall mixed as has been start of July. Today, St. Swithins, has been wall to wall sunshine and down south has been hit badly. In fact, it's been too hot to work outside today - am aiming to do a couple of hours after dinner when it's cooler and still light enough to work. Hope the breeze stays or midgies will drive me in!

Interested in your comment about other plants. We have wild foxgloves everywhere but comfrey doesn't thrive and lavender struggles. We have masses of the vetches and they're alive with bees as is the clover - nearly a foot high! J

[Kerry L]

They apparently self-polinate before the flowers open. My French beans seem to be fine, the runners are useless - some aren't even running, but making a bush instead! Yes they are supposed to be climbers too, one is a pretty red and white variety - Hestia, and I have my old faithful, white Desiree - that is not being very faithful at all, although it is actually finding it's way to the top of the pole. I have even planted morning glories to attract the benenficial insects alongside the runners to no avail. Must be purely weather conditions, otherwise plants look very healthy and flowering well. I have seen quite a few bumble bees that are new to me - similar to the black and yellow stripey ones, but these seem to have an extra rounded blob of browny yellow on their shoulders - looks like a cowboy scarf! They also seem to be a bit bigger??
The 2 nests that I spotted earlier in spring didn't amount to anything, so I'm a bit miffed about that - I was looking forward to watching them.
Also before I vamoose (hooray you all say), penstemons are brilliant for bees - they flower all summer long. There are hardy versions Jenny, because they are found from Canada down to Mexico, so there must be some that can happily thrive in your part of the world - and the slugs and snails don't like eating them either!;)
TTFN Kerry

[Alastair]

There is a good site here about Bumble bees

http://www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk/

It sounds as if Scotland and some of the isles are really doing well
Best
Alastair :)

[Jenny]

Who should have kept her mouth shut about good weather - been distinctly damp (mists) since then! In fact, a real disaster - mini green tomato chutney looks on the cards and the moss has multiplied exponentially! And no bumblebees! :( We were doing so well earlier on!

[Alastair]

We are never bored with the weather in the UK - - -its wonderful weather in sunny Yorkshire :) :) :)

[Nuthatch]

We are never bored with the weather in the UK - - -its wonderful weather in sunny Yorkshire :) :) :)

... as it is also in Surrey :)

[Morgannon]

I've had a dramatic reduction in their numbers from last year. Last Summer the garden was heaving with them and I spent much of my time rescuing drunken Bees from various predicaments but the Summer just gone saw hardly any. All Summer and I only had two drunk Bees to rescue from Birdbaths.

[Morgannon]

Thanks for that NHM site. I'm now working on putting species and stuff to my photos.

[peanut]

I love bees too. I grow a patch of bamboo which I cut down every autumn and pile up in a corner of the garden. It gives different thicknesses of cane which suits different bees. Ladybirds use it too. I also harvest some of the long, dry grass from the wild border and roll it into tunnel shapes and place on top of the log pile.

[70007]

I dont know about bees, but I found a large (queen?) and drowsy wasp crawling around my kitchen window on New Years' Eve. My wife ordered me to kill it, but instead I took it outside on a piece of paper and placed it on the lid of my cold frame in the hope that it would find somewhere safe to hide.

I know some people hate wasps, but I'm sure their summer/autumn scavenging is very useful, even if rather irritating at times.

[georgie]

Quite right 70007! Hope your queen survives (although not to make a nest in your air bricks!)

While you're at it, please get rid of any of those ghastly wasp traps that you might have! I can't see the point of 'beautiful decorative glass jars' that are to be proudly hung on branches to be used as killing machines. If someone designed similarly coloured glass traps designed to kill blue tits then I don't think many people would buy them.... (would they??)

[70007]

I dont have any of those. One year we did have a wasps nest close by (I think it was in the overgrown garden behind us) and they could have become a pest to anyone eating outside, but I cut a couple of apples in half and laid them on the top of a water butt. The wasps loved these, at times you could not see any apples just a mass of yellow and black.

Because they had free food, they had little need to scavenge elsewhere and left us alone. So, they are not all bad, but I have seen people go into hysterics just because one flies within a few feet of them.

[Kerry L]

Hi all
We have spotted a few queen bumbles around. My mum was worried that they wouldn't find food so early. I pointed out that there are plenty of viburnums in flower - also celandines, pansies, primulas, snowdrops (never seen one on those, though) and goodness knows what else - my dafs are almost flowering too, so there must be some nectar about.
No sign of wasps, but I much prefer the hornets.
Regards, Kerry

[70007]

Yes, and many of the flowers at this time of year are very bright, and maybe even more so in the bumblebee spectrum of light, so are easier to find.

I have primroses flowering in my lawn. They are only tiny plants which seed themselves from the borders and I usually dig them up and re-plant them elsewhere, as they would otherwise get mown later in the year. But, it has been so wet I haven't done that yet and they all have a flower or two.

[Kerry L]

Hi 70007
Picking Mim up today at school, she informed me that the daisies are coming out - and there they were along the verges!
Kerry

[70007]

Goodness me, daisies in January?

That is really unusual.

I took a photo of one of my primrose plants yesterday, but am not sure how to incorporate it into a message. However, here goes.....

[Kerry L]

Dear 70007
What a lovely healthy specimen!
The daisies are on a sloping bank facing south east - not really protected from the elements (once a school bus had it's heating grill blown off by the wind last year!) and they have to be really hardy because of the large number of children/teenagers trampling over them while racing home! We have hardly had any frost, and most of those were light. We haven't had any snow - apart from a little bit of sleet amongst the rain last Friday.
Nights are quite warm here - we put an extra blanket on for a couple of days I think in November, otherwise it is just a sheet, blanket and one of my quilts - and then I have had to throw the covers off! Global warming????
Regards, Kerry

[70007]

I think you are right. It must be global warming.

I remember when I was a boy, my mother had the responsibility for providing flowers in our local church every so often, and regularly at Easter.

We used to go for a walk in the local woods where (if we were lucky) the primroses would be in flower. We picked some flowers for the decoration. However, if Easter was early, there would be none. I realise that conditions in woodland are not the same as my front garden, but we hardly ever found primroses until April.

[Kerry L]

Dear 70007
I agree with you, the flowers were much later. I can remember picking primroses for my grandmother to take down to her at Easter. Apparently picking flowers like that would be a "no no" now!
Blossom on the trees now - are they sloes? Also everything seems to be bursting into bloom. I did check on the bluebell woods and so far only the leaves - phew, thats a relief.
My mum has a photo of me in the garden "niffing" daffs at 10 months old - 50 years ago. She said it was a very warm day. Also our 23rd anniversary is coming up and a week before the wedding we had thick snow. There was still snow on the ground on our day, but it was so hot. All the guests prepared for winter weather, the bridesmaids had to take of their jeans that they had under their dresses, and dragon-in-law got a bit hot and bothered in her mink jacket and eventually had to remove it (ha ha :p ). So it seems we have always had odd weather after all.
Cheerio, Kerry

[Jenny]

No bumbles out up here, despite there being some heat in the sun (very little or no wind the last 10 days and pretty much wall to wall sunshine - all due to change tomorrow :( ). One or two crocuses (early flowering out); miniature narcissus in warm sheltered spot about to burst and celandines ready to pop but no snowdrops or primroses yet - unlike last year. Been so dry this last fortnight that the pond - well overflowing for weeks on end previously, is now almost empty!