No hum

We have had loads and loads of bumblebees (several species) as usual, and honeybees too. I rescued a honeybee this afternoon that was buzzing frantically against the window in our wash-house.

There is that about rhododendrons and Himalayan balsam – bees luv 'em.

Was it on GN that I heard of this bumblebee survey ? There are two surveys actually. One wants photographs of the bees you come across, and has a guide to identifying them, the other wants volunteers to walk a fixed route (you chose where) each month and send them your sightings.

Article, Guardian, Monbiot

Signed the card, minimouse.

Our bumble bees seem to have gone and we had just one lone bee in the lavender yesterday. Hope they have gone to pastures new and not died.

Having starts this thread almost exactly a year ago I come back to report that this year our local footpaths and fields are awash with the sound of buzzing insects. My morning walk is once again accompanied by the humming chorus.

That's good to hear. Makes a change from all the doom and gloom.

Here too, we are Butterfly Central. It was so mild over the winter that we had a vast quantity of black, white and greenfly, but the ladybird larvae polished them off, and the bees are just everywhere.

And again. One bumble, Nowt else!

Did anyone else read this article about wild honeybees and varroa-mite tolerant bees? It's interesting.

The warm/hot weather may be affecting bees - they do also need to drink - I have made a shallow watering hole for them. A shallow dish filled with either small pebbles or marbles and water just to the level of marbles etc. They can then drink without drowning. It does seem to be a late season here in Hertfordshire although this week we have noticed the peacocks, comma, meadow brown, gatekeeper, small skipper, green veined white, large white and small tortoiseshell in our garden along with several different species of bee including leaf cutting solitary bees who have made a 'home' in our bee box. Lots of hover flies and a hummingbird hawk moth did visit a couple of weeks ago. I live in hope that they will continue to flourish in our garden.

38 Degrees follow-up email on bees and pesticides. apologies for the length, but it saves GNs having to try and use a link!

This morning, 38 Degrees members handed the world’s most-signed greetings card - signed by a whopping 125,000 of us - to the new environment secretary, Liz Truss MP. In it, a clear message: protect our bees. [1]

Together, 38 Degrees members asked Truss to do everything in her power to protect bees. Including championing the EU ban on harmful pesticides. The card looked really impressive as it was carried into the Department for Environment! Here’s a pic:


Truss’ predecessor, Owen Paterson, wasn’t a friend of the bees. [2] Instead, he stood up for pesticide companies and big agribusiness. He made his views clear in an article he wrote for the Telegraph newspaper last week when he brushed aside people calling for a sustainable environment as the ‘Green Blob’. [3]

Now Liz Truss has his job - and she'll be under pressure from the same pesticide companies. But with our record-breaking card, she also knows that she’s bee-ing watched by thousands of ordinary people. A sobering prospect for any politician in the year leading up to an election.

The likes of Syngenta and other pesticide businesses are waiting in the wings to put in new applications to use pesticides that harm bees. [4] But together, we’re ready to pull out all the stops to make sure protecting our bees is at the forefront of Liz Truss’s mind.

Thanks for everything you do,

Rebecca, Maddy, Megan, Becky and the 38 Degrees team

PS: What do you think 38 Degrees members need to do together this year to make sure bees are a top priority for Liz Truss? Please share your thoughts on Facebook or comment on the blog:
Facebook: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/bees-card-facebook
Blog: blog.38degrees.org.uk/2014/07/24/bees-liz-truss-mp-receives-our-giant-card/

Sudden loads of hone, bumble, solitary and assorted bees in my garden

Keep up the pressure and publicity; people forget very quickly, especially in the winter when the bees are not around.

Just been sent an email from sumofus about Syngenta and pesticides.

act.sumofus.org/go/5695?t=4&akid=7071.1669823.gTCgnQ