Bee-cotted!

[Serial_Apologist]

In this part of the world a combination of soft bricks and lime mortar on many older buildings makes life easy for mason bees. The wall beside the front door of a previous Victorian terrace home became very popular and caused some consternation to visitors. More seriously a (single thickness)wall in one of the sections of my workplace became the focus of determined and multiple occupancy over a period of years to the point where it was possible to see through from outside to inside and the structural integrity of some sections became compromised. Organising repairs was lengthy and costly.

I understand that wasps never ever nest in the same place twice. Not sure if this is true of bees.

[ardcarp]

At the other end of the season now. Our garden (in which 'wilding' has happened without our help) the ivy has reached the top of walls and is an absolute mecca for bees. The combined humming is like a distant roar. I gather there is a specialist ivy bee, but I guess this is a bit of a rarity, and that ours are most likely a pretty common species.

[Serial_Apologist]

I gather there is a specialist ivy bee, but I guess this is a bit of a rarity

There was, and indeed she was - she led an all-female dance orchestra!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEHJYMfq0tQ

[french frank]

There was, and indeed she was - she led an all-female dance orchestra!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEHJYMfq0tQ

Loved this story from the Queen Bee herself (and wiki):

Benson's band had a high turnover of musicians, as they frequently left to marry G.I.s they met while touring. She once commented, "I lost seven in one year to America. Only the other week a girl slipped away from the stage. I thought she was going to the lavatory but she went off with a G.I. Nobody's seen her since."

[Serial_Apologist]

Loved this story from the Queen Bee herself (and wiki):

Benson's band had a high turnover of musicians, as they frequently left to marry G.I.s they met while touring. She once commented, "I lost seven in one year to America. Only the other week a girl slipped away from the stage. I thought she was going to the lavatory but she went off with a G.I. Nobody's seen her since."

Indeed!

[french frank]

Pleased to see that this year is a nectar year for the hawthorn and the bees are pitching on it and feeding. However, hawthorn no 2 has had to be cut down as it turned out to be not a dwarf cultivar but a native species that was heading for the sky: not a good idea in a small back yard. But the stump is sprouting again and I hope to retain it as a shrub or bush.

I planted two young hawthorn trees, now both established, mainly to attract the birds with their berries, but not doubting that the blossom would be attractive to the bees. Now that both are in full bloom, I noticed that the bees which have just started appearing are bee-cotting the hawthorns. It seems that the blossom is only sporadically attractive to bees (like once every 5-6 years) for a reason imperfectly understood. Whatever the reason, this isn't one of the years where they're finding the nectar.

[vinteuil]

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We know that spring has come when the masonry bees arrive to claim and re-work their holes in the poor cement-work in our neighbour's house - and today they are present in number. The wall they favour overlooks the glass roof of our kitchen, so we get little sprinkles of cement dust on the roof as they go about their business...

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... global warming / climate change?

today the bees were in evidence. So -

2021 : 24 March
2022 : 21 March
2023 : 22 March
2024 : 6 March

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[eighthobstruction]

....not much happening in North Yorks,,,,but elsewhere https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/68479700

[Serial_Apologist]

... global warming / climate change?

today the bees were in evidence. So -

2021 : 24 March
2022 : 21 March
2023 : 22 March
2024 : 6 March

.

I actually spotted a couple of queens (bees that is!) a fortnight ago. On Monday there were several bumble bees scattered on local pavements, either dead or presumably zonked out by the cold. Climate warming is producing terrible problems in species adapting to what would otherwise need generations of transitioning.

[french frank]

... global warming / climate change?

today the bees were in evidence. So -

2021 : 24 March
2022 : 21 March
2023 : 22 March
2024 : 6 March

Coincidentally, I've just noticed the bees buzzing round the cherry blossom. The hawthorn is a long way off blossoming so I won't know if this is a 'nectar year' for a while yet.

[oddoneout]

I've seen more honeybees and fewer bumblebees around so far.