far fewer bees in my garden this year but more butterflies than normal
Adam Tripp ● 21d6 Comments
There's a nice little article in the Kew Magazine too about bees and how we should be planting flowering plants to give them the pollen and nectar that they need throughout the year.Also that it is a good idea to plant some smaller plants in larger groups of the same colour.Some flowers like Michaelmas daisies close at night (as I tried filming them opening up petal by petal in the morning). Others like buddleia are always open so you can see butterflies crossing from one garden to another or even coming up a bank out of sight and crossing a road straight towards it while also hosting ladybirds and other beetles of various colours (or maybe they are ladybirds too) and then at night a whole host of visiting moths of different kinds fly in and take over.
Philippa Bond ● 14d
It's important to NOT keep trimming shrubs so that they never get a chance to flower. Those flowers and their nectar are important for bees and other insects to survive and also may mean that there are no important berries able to be formed on some shrubs as a food source for birds later in the year.This sadly seems to have become a habit in some places.
Philippa Bond ● 18d
In hot weather bees have to flap their wings much harder and so become dehydrated. They lose energy and thus can travel shorter distances. In really intense heat they fall to the ground. Just like us, really.
Alexander MacLeod ● 19d
Some stones placed in a bird bath will allow bees, butterflies and other insects to walk down to the water's edge to drink. Bumblebees I believe drink nectar.
Philippa Bond ● 21d
Not sure about honey bees but bumblebees are struggling with the heat:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c141lymnl2yo
Michael Ixer ● 21d
Very true, I've seen more butterflies.
Barbara Stevens ● 21d