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the small golfball-sized embryo nest with its 15-20 cells in a single paper comb. After she has laid her first 15-20 eggs in these, she must forage for caterpillars, flies, aphids and other insects to feed to the grubs that hatch.This is a vulnerable time

around 2001, and about that time I was shown the end-of-season remains of a nest in a small hollow tree in Sydenham Hill Wood. I had heard of them being spotted in Dulwich Park, but had never been fortunate enough to see them myself.There has been a

actually established it as 'his'. He now patrols it from dawn to dusk, scampering around eating apples, turning leaves and pecking the lawn for grubs. He’s not frightened of us, or anything, it seems, as he has started chasing off other birds which try

the blackbird dug them up, looking for grubs. The second batch of seeds I sowed suffered the same assault. Sid then mysteriously disappeared - has another frustrated gardener taken revenge?The third batch of beans is barely past seedling stage. I'm sure

containing honey, pollen, and grubs. They create tough, silk tunnels, presumably to protect themselves from the adult bees. Before long the entire nest is gone, prompting the caterpillars to leave to pupate into next year's wax moths.When I found the wax moth

to visit gardens in autumn and winter, as they rely on bird feeders when their natural sources of insects and grubs dry up. They need calorie-rich suet, sunflower hearts and peanuts to maintain fat reserves on frosty nights. In colder weather, look out