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, such as clover. Many pesticides just kill them.Our gardens are fast becoming refuges for bees - especially some species of bumblebee, which are happy to nest in wild corners, bird boxes and under sheds. Many also come into our gardens to feed. Sadly some species

and a pond. Every year a colony of buff-tailed bumblebees nests beneath the neighbours' shed and feeds on my mum's flowers, I'm sure the butterflies do the same. My dad has a nest of common carder bumblebees in his ramshackle allotment compost heap, just

can't bring your wormery indoors (a shed or greenhouse will do), wrap it up with bubble wrap or other suitable material. I'll be doing my best to insulate my compost bin this weekend - at the very least I'll put the lid back on properly. But I fear

. The smaller branches I composted (I was amazed how quickly they disappeared).The tree trunk remained propped up against the shed for six months, until I had a brainwave: I'd use it to make a solitary bee hotel. I got an old wine box, chopped the trunk

, but inevitable. In London alone we are losing the equivalent of 2.5 Hyde Parks of green space each year, as landlords and homeowners pave over their gardens to build sheds, park their cars and reduce 'maintenance'. Butterflies are precious in their own right

In common with many gardeners, I would like a bigger garden. The wish list for mine would include trees, a hedge, a mini-meadow, a shed I could stand in, and three ponds. Such is the craving that it invades my sleep – I wake and realise that, once

to find out what happens to cuckoos when they leave the UK, to see if that could shed any light on their decline. We know they go to Africa, but little is know about how they get there and what they get up to once they have arrived. Researchers have tagged