Sunday 11 October 2009

Bees

With the continued warm weather the Bees have been busy on the Cosmos still… Numbers are beginning to reduce, Hoverflies are gone as are the Butterflies.


I regularly catch them sunbathing on our wall… I assume to warm up in the sun?


They must be tired by now… I will most certainly miss them over the coming months... I love seeing them around and they make all the hard work so worthwhile!


This lady, I assume is looking for somewhere to hibernate and start a new nest next year… She was enormous and I was a little worried to get too close…


The Cosmos has proven invaluable for the Bees, especially now there is little else in flower… Definitely need more Asters and Cosmos for next year :)

10 comments:

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz....that does indeed look like the queen. They often use walls to warm themselves.....the bricks hold the heat....I suppose a little like a radiator...

I always miss the bees.....they are, for me, my most favourite garden visitor.

Asters and Cosmos have done well here and are still being used by bumbles....
Did I send you some Cosmos seashells? If not, let me know, and I will get them off to you......

Autumn Belle said...

I am scared of their sting. Otherwise they are ok, especially in photos.

lynn'sgarden said...

HI Liz! These are really nice close-ups of our furry friends! I love that the macro lens allow you to see every minute details...very cool! Do you grow sedum? They too are magnets for these visitors all summer and fall.
Lynn

ShySongbird said...

I shall miss them too but my friend won't! She has a major phobia about bees and wasps, to the point of hysteria. For me, though, it will be the butterflies I miss most!

Liz said...

Hi Cheryl, I found one of the Bees on the steps yesterday... I think it was too cold for it... I hope it survives a little longer.


I'm going to be on the hunt for more asters next year, I collected some seed on Saturday from some in an RSPB reserve.... whoops! :D

Liz said...

Hi Autumn Belle, I think them stinging is always a worry, especially at this time of year when they can be somewhat sporadic... But they would much rather get on with their own business than hurting us...

They're such amazing little insects, and of course are so important to crop pollination.

Liz said...

Hi Lynn, Thank you so much for visiting, I'm glad you liked my photos too :)

I do indeed have Sedum, not very much though but I do plan on propagating it next year so I have more...

Liz said...

Hi Jan, it sounds like your friend has a phobia similar to my mum's phobia of Spiders... She will actually scream and cry when she sees one... It's actually quite upsetting to see her getting so upset over something so minor.

Butterflies are lovely, and hopefully next year I can tempt them for most of the season as this year they seemed to only really appear in July and August... The Bird's foot trefoil should certainly attract the Blues and orange-tips in spring.

ShySongbird said...

Hi again Liz, yes my friend's phobia does sound very similar to that of your mother. I remember when we were children she got totally hysterical over a wasp in my bedroom, where we were playing, and my mother had to slap her across the face to bring her out of it, as you can imagine it hurt Mum much more than it did my friend but did the trick! I have never seen her that bad since until recently in her garden when she thought a wasp had gone down her top luckily her husband who has seen her reaction many times was able to bring her out of it without resorting to my poor, and I should stress, gentle, mother's method!

I agree with you, that level of anxiety is very upsetting to witness.

Yoke, said...

I still saw a few Red Admirals and have just found a little silver moth, and Bees here and there. I'll miss all those Insects too. They are so intriguing.

Lovely pictures.