Talkback: Identifying bumblebees - Talkback

kparry

24/11/2011 at 15:27

Love to see bees in my garden, they are now busy getting my broadbeans polenated, should have a bumper crop.

colbert2378

24/11/2011 at 15:27

Bumblebees are lovely but not the brightest on the block. Why does it take me so long to get one out of my greenhouse when the door is wide open?

Boolily

24/11/2011 at 15:27

Last year I had many black, grey and white miner bees in my vegetable plot. I had never seen them before and was fascinated.

Mark1966

24/11/2011 at 15:27

I LOVE BEES.
Last Year i drilled a whole load of 15mm & 20mm holes in two 1 meter lenghs of timber fence post. Even though they were pressure treated i had approximatley twenty bees in each hotel. The slowly emerging Bees look fine. photos can be suplied on request.
Mark Neal
Birmingham

samuelcat

24/11/2011 at 15:27

We have a Laburnum (hope I spelt that right) in full flower at the moment. We call it our humming tree because there are that many bees in it.Love them.

kaycurtis

24/11/2011 at 15:27

I love this feature only hope our bee population doesn't deminnish any further, I saw a programme that blames nicotine substances in products that people use on the gardens and fields, it stands to reason if nicotine kills people, what chance does a BEE stand. hope people work this one out before it is too late

simonkeating

24/11/2011 at 15:27

It is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo important to maintain bee populations.
Without them pollination will not happen.
If plants are not pollinated they will become extinct.
If plants die ultimately what chance for us, the human race?
The current decline in bee population is yet another indicator of how we are trashing our planet.
Encourage bees!
So many gardens - so much opportunity for bees.
Without them it is the beginning of the end!!!

Sweetviolet

24/11/2011 at 15:27

I live in Scotland and am very concerned about the loss of Bees in our area. My Husband and I have seen many dead Bumblebees, he observed about 12 in one day on a grassy bank just down from our house. All of these were of the White-tailed variety. On a more positive note we have seen other varieties thriving in our fruit trees in the garden. I hope that the cause of the decline in Bee populations can be determined and a solution found soon.

fionamo

24/11/2011 at 15:27

Environmental charity Central Scotland Forest Trust is giving away packs of wildflower seeds to residents of the Central Scotland Forest to help provide habitats for bumblebees. Visit www.savetheweebees.org to register for your free pack of seeds. Limited stocks available. Please include your full name and address including postcode. Giveaway limited to residents of the Central Scotland Forest area - includes North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk & West Lothian.

CATSKND

24/11/2011 at 15:27

Thank you so much for all the info about bumblebees. Yesterday, we cleared away no less than 7 dead bumbles from our kitchen windowsill!! How sad; they fly in the back door and as has been said, it is just so frustrating to try and manouevre them to safety, or try and capture them gently in order to release them...

I am determined to learn how to identify the many which visit us to record them before the deadline. Thank you again for the wonderful info about these beautiful creatures.

hack-it-and_leggit

24/11/2011 at 15:28

we are now the proud owners of a bees nest under our roof soffits. I noticed them a few weeks ago and was a little concerned as the entrance to their abode is right by my young daughters bedroom window. So far, not one of them has lost their way into the entance of their abode and found their way inside the bedroom.
Its wonderful to be able to watch the comings and goings of these beautiful and essential insects I would love to be a fly on the wall and see what was going on in there!

peterhough

24/11/2011 at 15:28

we all need to do our best to help our bumblebee's. without them we will all suffer.

JanVale

24/11/2011 at 15:28

We deliberately leave a grassy bank containing wild flowers, bulbs, etc because we are aware that bumble bees nest in it. I always wonder how they know where their individual nests are. I will enjoy creating new ways to encourage all bees to visit our garden and will no doubt be re visiting your article several times.

audrey23

24/11/2011 at 15:28

We have that type of bee which bury themselves in the ground, only really little ones they are. I often wonder if it's because we have a couple of fruit trees that we have that type of bee as they're nesting all around the trees. They all look like baby ones really.

julesdt

24/11/2011 at 15:28

if a bumblebee comes into my kitchen and tries to get out by the window I gently place a large clear dry glass over it and slide a thin piece of card between the glass and the window. I can then take the bee outside and immediately release it.
I also place a small amount of moist sugar on the floor next to any bee that I find outside that seems distressed. Often this appears to give a boost and enable it to fly off again. I like to do my bit to help bees if I can.

WWPippin

24/11/2011 at 15:28

Every year about this time the tips of the branches on our cherry tree are infested with aphids causing the leaves at the ends to curl up. I don't use sprays if I can help it so we just live with it. This week the whole tree has been absolutely humming with bees as they visit the curled up leaves feeding on the aphid honeydew I think.

audrey_fallon

24/11/2011 at 15:28

After seeing a programme recently about declining bee populations and the effect this will have on the environment I started to sow flower seeds and planted shrubs that attract bees. I now have so many more bees in my garden. It is delightful to see the bees climbing into flowers with their backends barely visible and then emerging to find another flower to visit. I shall certainly take up Gardeners' World's wildlife plant offer this month. I may even try my hand at building a bee home.

lilwead

24/11/2011 at 15:29

I work in a garden centre, and as we get the lavender and hebes in, that's when we usually have the most bees about. There's usually a complete mixture of wild bees and honey bees. I was asked once why I wasn't bothered by the bees as I was working, and I tried to explain that if a bee stings, it dies as the stinger is barbed and tears the bee apart as it tries to pull it out.

tuftyang

24/11/2011 at 15:29

I love to watch the bees buzzing around the garden so I have lots of plants that attract them. They love the white clover which is making a takeover bid in the lawn but seeing bees on the lawn makes up for the weeds! It can be quite windy where I live, so watching the bees hanging onto French lavender flowers for dear life reminds me of cowboys riding rodeo!!!

marilyns

24/11/2011 at 15:29

pretty sure I have a common carder bee nest in middle of my lambs ear, it looks like dirty sheeps wool and the bees are pretty insignificant. love bees but will be glad when these are gone as they are preventing a long overdue landscaping job from being done. anyone know when it can be safely removed?