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Gardening

Where are the bees?

(78 Posts)
flaxwoven Thu 05-Aug-21 14:45:56

We have a small cottage garden in Sussex full of flowers, and every year the sunflowers, fuschia, Japanese windflower, rosebay willowherb and others are covered in bees. This year there's hardly one in sight. Very odd.

GrannyGravy13 Thu 05-Aug-21 14:52:30

My garden in S E Essex has lots of Bumblebees and other types of bees.

25Avalon Thu 05-Aug-21 14:52:47

They’ve all come west. I’ve got loads on Linaria, and Lavender, and Eryngiums are a buzz. I’ve even seen them on my bindweed flowers! (Yes I have plenty of those) they do prefer blue flowers best of all.

Grandmabatty Thu 05-Aug-21 14:53:03

I've had lots of different types of bees in my small garden in central Scotland

Aldom Thu 05-Aug-21 14:59:59

I'm in Oxfordshire. I'm pleased to say that the bees are busy enjoying the lavender and other bee friendly plants in my garden.

Esspee Thu 05-Aug-21 15:01:57

Central Scotland here too. My garden is designed to provide nectar for the longest possible time and is buzzing with bees and other insects.

sharon103 Thu 05-Aug-21 15:06:56

I've had and still got plenty of bees in my garden.
In fact last week I got stung by one on my toe. B...dy painful.
I kept putting bite and sting cream on it but it itched like hell.

Lincslass Thu 05-Aug-21 15:09:49

Here in lovely Lincolnshire, many bees very busy amongst the Lavender and anything else they could get into, they need single flowers where they can access nectar and pollen.
See Gardeners World for best plants for Bees.

hazel93 Thu 05-Aug-21 15:26:59

We are also in Sussex, loads of bees here until a couple of weeks ago when most flowers had "gone over". They return once the second flush arrives I find so don't despair .
That said it is also none too warm here for early August so being sensible creatures they are staying at home !

Redhead56 Thu 05-Aug-21 15:48:10

My garden outskirts of Liverpool has a lovely healthy variety of bees.

Barmeyoldbat Thu 05-Aug-21 16:48:13

all in my garden in North Somerset

TerriBull Thu 05-Aug-21 16:57:42

I've seen quite a few in our garden this year Sussex/Surrey borders, and this morning before it started raining, helped one exit the kitchen when it kept flying into our glass doors.

Now Stag Beetles where have they all gone? can't remember the last time I saw one shock clearly a declining species.

Washerwoman Thu 05-Aug-21 17:43:58

I think they had a slow start this year ,with a very wet cool period in May not helping.Well certainly in our garden in Yorkshire.We have pollinator plants galore and its only in the last few days I could say numbers are more like normal.Unfortunately the Caryopteris bushes that are usually smothered in flowers,and bees by now suffered badly after heavy frosts and is looking as if they may not make it.I will have to look for replacements.

Katie59 Thu 05-Aug-21 17:59:22

Plenty of bumble bees here, few honey bees this year, my beekeeper neighbour has moved his hives to a field of beans.
We do get stag beetles, we have horses next door, maybe they like the horse poohs

SueDonim Thu 05-Aug-21 18:22:37

They’re all in my cat mint in NE Scotland. I’ve never seen such a huge number of different types of bee as this year. I am v pleased because we had such a harsh winter I was worried they’d all succumb to the cold.

Otoh, I’ve seen very few butterflies this summer. sad

MerylStreep Thu 05-Aug-21 18:41:51

We have a lot of bees in the garden.
But what I’m really confused/ worried about is the lack of wasps.
We took the grandchildren to Adventure Island on Tuesday.
I spent a lot of time sitting next to rubbish bins ?
As you can imagine with the 1,000s of people there, there was a lot of sweet/ sugar waste.
But not one wasp on any of them!!!!!
Good for me, but not so good for nature ?

grandMattie Thu 05-Aug-21 18:46:07

I’ve seen loads of bumblebees but very few honey bees this year. Normally we can hardly hear ourselves think when walking past the lavender hedge.
Probably a load of reasons - varroa, small hive beetle, pesticides, very cold and stormy spring, etc…

Kim19 Thu 05-Aug-21 18:49:00

Many bees in evidence in my garden this year. I have encouraged many more foxgloves which is a contributory factor I think.

DiscoGran Thu 05-Aug-21 19:30:42

My lavender and sunflowers are covered in them? (in s Cambridgeshire)

NfkDumpling Thu 05-Aug-21 19:50:39

Loads of different sorts of bees including honey bees this year in the north of Norfolk. Our Echuim (the one which grows to 15 feet + is still full of them.

We also seem to have a few more wasps than last year. But numbers of them are still well down. The aphids on the roses have been having a field day!

NfkDumpling Thu 05-Aug-21 19:51:00

Echium!

MiniMoon Thu 05-Aug-21 19:52:07

We've had many different species of bee in our garden this Summer.
My DD had a smalk black bee in her garden which she had to look up as she had never seen one before. It was a species of miner bee.
this one has been prolific this year.

mrsgreenfingers56 Sun 08-Aug-21 10:34:33

I have a small crack on the patio between the flags and a bees nest in there, they fly in and out all much to my delight. I often sit near there in the afternoon and they never bother me. I have been so pleased about this so much better than the squirrels and pigeons which seem to plague us!

GraceQuirrel Sun 08-Aug-21 10:35:00

They are on the lavender at Burford Garden Centre! Lots and lots ? ?

Quizzer Sun 08-Aug-21 10:39:56

Our garden in E Midlands is full of them.