UKC

I'm so pleased. I have a bees nest under my garden path. Some people would be negative about it,but I'm chuffed. Just seen them when cutting the grass-so I left the grass around there untouched. I haven't been able to see what they look like fully, but are relatively small with mostly black abdomen and some dark orange.

In reply to veteye:
Are they individuals or part of a swarm? If the former could they be Masonry Bees? They live in little holes in walls and sometimes paths

In reply to veteye:

You are honoured to have been chosen. I had a bumble bee nest under conifers 3 years ago, it was wonderful seeing them come and go.

It's rewarding to leave an area of the garden wild. The little nettle patch has ladybird larvae crawling over it. Enjoy your bees.

In reply to Trangia:

There's about 5-6 outside the opening at times, but seem to be individual.

In reply to Queenie:

Pretty much all my garden is wild! I don't have much time to tend to it.
My real bug bear is the ever present ivy-it's everywhere.

Ironically, I got a little bamboo bee-house for Christmas a couple of years ago, which I hung up, but they're not interested in that.

In reply to veteye:

Cool!

In reply to veteye:

Excellent, typically we get a couple of bumble bee nests a year but not this year.
IIt'sgreat sitting by the pond and watching them come and go.

In reply to Dax H:

Just so long as they fare well, and bees in general lose a lower percentage to the lurgies that drag them down than in previous years.(Though sadly I did find some individual dead bees in April)

In reply to veteye: can anyone recommend a guide to i.d. them.? I have a number of particularly small ones in my garden. And a wasps nest in my shed

In reply to veteye:
I have a bush just outside my garden facing window that the bees just love, and even though each year it takes more and more of my light away, I just can't bring myself to cut it back.
( and of course I am a lazy gardener who prefers to watch nature take over rather than intervene with all the effort that would take

In reply to veteye:

The ivy may be what's got you the bees, it produces nectar very late in the year and is great for bees.
I have two bees in my front wall living in holes left where I removed a key safe. One is a masonry bee and one a leaf cutter bee that's very neatly closed off the hole with bits of leaf.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Maybe we should have a bee interest group on UK Climbing.

In reply to veteye:
No nests since 2014 unfortunately - http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=590075&v=1#x7801323 - but still plenty of different bees and wasps visit my garden for feeding each year.

Always a constant buzzing and somewhat frantic activity next to the house particularly on a cotoneaster at the kitchen window from early morning till late at night at this time of year. Would miss them, and the various birds that visit, if they were not about.

In reply to veteye:



Can you send some up here, my grass could do with a trim.

In reply to krikoman:

So the buzzing comes from tiny lawn mowers.