Bee Good

[Digeroo]

I have been very worried about the lack of bees.  But today I saw the biggest bumble bee ever doing what bees do best with my runner beans. 

So now I am happy that soon I will have nice juicy runner beans. 

We get a lot of nasty little brown hairy jobs that drill a hole in the back of the flower and grab the neckar by the back door and all the other bees follow suit, which means the flowers fall of unpollenated.  But this big thing went fairly and squarely straight into the front of the flower.  So big I was not sure whether the flower would fall off with the weight of the thing.  But it seems to have been successful, lets hope it adds me into its daily route. 

[Digeroo]

[saddad]

 :) great

[twave]

We are getting loads of bees in Scotland. In fact most days I have to chase one or two out the house. A lot of them seem to be this giant variety. I think it is the native bee that is under threat but I've heard there is another bee - african I think - taking it's place.

[chriscross1966]

It's probably a Bombus terrestris, it's native and they do get enormous especially if it's a queen.... we've got quite a few native bees although none of them are as common as they once were.....

chrisc

[Plot69]

Are you sure it was a bee and not a humming bird? It's warm enough for them   ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

We are getting loads of bees in Scotland. In fact most days I have to chase one or two out the house. A lot of them seem to be this giant variety. I think it is the native bee that is under threat but I've heard there is another bee - african I think - taking it's place.

Not African bees, the climate's unsuitable. Tunisian queens were imported in the 1880's and early 90's, and advertised as being proof agains every ill known to beekeepers, but they disappeared long ago. Honeybees in general are facing numerous threats, mainly due to beekeepers moving bees round the world, and bringing alien parasites along with them. We've just had two dreadful years, and a great many colonies have been lost, but most beekeepers are having a good year so far this year.