Talkback: The first bumblebee of the year - Talkback

25/03/2009 at 11:48

hi i have loads and loads of bumblebees out the front of my house for weeks.i was wondering where there nest was.they have been busy taking the pollen from the heather,crocuses i also have a very large wissteria in flower growing up the house.although on sunday one of the furry buggers stung me on the hand[ouch].

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25/03/2009 at 16:39

I SAW MY FIRST BUMBBLE BEE OF THE YEAR IN MY GARDEN ON SATURDAY 21 MARCH AND HAVE SEEN MORE SINCE IN THE LAST FEW DAYS.

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25/03/2009 at 17:48

So that`s their name.Bombus.What an appropriate name. One was crashing around in our conservatory the other day until i humanely got her outside and off she went like an angry Bomb er. They are fantstic creatures. Have had a few in the garden this year. Also some honey bees, but unfortunately whenever they arrive the weather changes to cold and windy. I just hope they survive the chill.

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25/03/2009 at 20:53

I too have had bumble and honey bees already in my garden - in fact more this year than any other - they are back!!

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25/03/2009 at 21:19

Don't know where you others are but we saw our first last Thursday (19th) in Livingston, just outside Edinburgh. It's turned a lot cooler since so haven't seen any others.

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26/03/2009 at 09:15

Plenty of bumbles here in N Wales, too. Two weeks ago I cheered on as they pollenated the apricot blossom in the greenhouse. Luckily for me they were in the right place at the right time. Spring has left in a hurry this week.

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26/03/2009 at 15:57

I've seen a few bumble bees at Myerscough College, near Preston, on the heathers in the borders. They are much hardier than the honey bee and can forage in lower temperatures as well as in wet weather. Let's hope it's a good year for all the bee species.

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26/03/2009 at 16:35

My daughter(10) has been logging the bees as she sees them(8 so far),we draw and cut bees out and then they go on our kitchen wall.This year i think we will be planting alot more bee friendly flowers than lastyear.

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26/03/2009 at 19:18

We saw our first bumble bee of the year yesterday whilst eating our dinner in the conservatory. It was flying around our garden seat and boy what a whopper. I had the feeling that because of the size of it, it could well have been a queen bee. We stay in Maryburgh, which is in the Scottish Highlands.

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26/03/2009 at 21:11

Like others I have seen a few bumblebees this week in Dalkeith near Edinburgh I have several Ribes bushes flowering and they were feeding on these.

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26/03/2009 at 21:13

Like others i have seen several bumblebees this week in my garden in Dalkeith, near Edinburgh. I have several Ribes bushes in flower and they were feeding on these.

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26/03/2009 at 22:22

I saw my first one two weeks ago and ever since on the warmer days have seen quite a few visiting the flowers that are starting to open on my Victoria plum tree in my back garden ... sometime two or three at a time.

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26/03/2009 at 22:57

I have had several large (Queen?) bees in the garden for weeks now-buff tailed and feeding from daffodils and Winter Jasmine. More unusually we had a peacock butterfly feeding from a daffodil in our front garden this week! I don't recall ever seeing peacocks around at the same time as daffodils!

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27/03/2009 at 02:36

I live in the north west and no bees have been recorded but only blue bottles which appear to be very sleepy eg a bit disoriantated. The daffs and the snowdropps apeared as usual at the same time of the year, in the pots. What I did not expect was when changing pots for the hosta which I dearly like because of its show in my back yard, as I live in a terraced home, was a great number of whte grubs, quite fat and orange type heads but small. I have had my hosta for some years - for some reason I picked up it wasnt well last year - three flower heads when it had lots of flower heads for some years previous. Any ideas about the grubs? I have kept some of the hosta roots in water. Marie

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27/03/2009 at 09:07

Ive had a little chap in my garden for a few weeks - i love them, they are so cuddly lol

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27/03/2009 at 11:31

Down here in Cornwall Bumble bees have been out and about for several weeks - lets hope they survive these temperature changes - sometimes as much as 10 degrees over 7 days ! Don't you think that the grubs in the Hosta pot sound like the dreaded weevils ?

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27/03/2009 at 13:07

We have a so many hovering the last month they have been going crazy over the mahonia and hellebores in our garden

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27/03/2009 at 17:06

Can anyone help. I have a mulberry bush that has thrived for the last six years..... problem is it will not fruit. How do I get it to fruit?

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28/03/2009 at 17:44

I live in the North West and for the past three weeks we have seen quite a few bumble bees.

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29/03/2009 at 20:18

Further to the earlier post about Peacock butterflys - I've often seen them in March and occasionally in February - 14th was the earliest many years ago. Haven't yet seen one this year although I have seen a comma butterfly last weekend.