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01 Jun 14
16:33
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Date Joined:
23 May 09
Garden is full of them, must be having a good year 
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Never Seen So Many Bumble-Bees
....looking as lovely as they did tonight
I've never seen them shine so bright
Ladies in black and yellow......
....looking as lovely as they did tonight
I've never seen them shine so bright
Ladies in black and yellow......
Extraordinary number of bees all over the garden here in Zummerzet. I'm 52 and have never seen bees on anything like this scale before.
Benefit of the mild winter imo. We'd had a succession of winters featuring at least one cold spell until 2013-14.
I wonder whether this will get reported. A lot of people have been making careers out of claiming that bees are heading for extinction owing to evil humans and pesticides.
Benefit of the mild winter imo. We'd had a succession of winters featuring at least one cold spell until 2013-14.
I wonder whether this will get reported. A lot of people have been making careers out of claiming that bees are heading for extinction owing to evil humans and pesticides.
Maybe they have saved the bee population.....that's why you are seeing more
same here I have only got a few pots and a small pond with some lilys but there are a good few bumble bees buzzing around
The EU voted to restrict neonicotinoids just 7 days ago, The Leopard. I'd be doubtful if there was already an effect.
Britain was the only country to vote against the restriction, on the basis of the studies linking them to bee losses being flawed. Looks like we were right, but it's too late now.
Neonicotinoids are valuable because they protect crops from insects that attack cereals and soybeans, but are harmless to mammals.
Britain was the only country to vote against the restriction, on the basis of the studies linking them to bee losses being flawed. Looks like we were right, but it's too late now.
Neonicotinoids are valuable because they protect crops from insects that attack cereals and soybeans, but are harmless to mammals.
I had a few bumble bees in the garden this weekend, one was in the kitchen having a look around the gaff for a few minutes before whizzing off.
Maybe Mc M, I was cooking a salt beef joint at the time but he didn't seem overly keen on what I was having for dinner. I haven't seen a ladybird for years, I think they may be extinct.
Wiki :
The atlas Ladybirds (Coccinellidae) of Britain and Ireland published in 2011[29] showed a decline of more than 20% in native species due to environmental changes and competition from foreign invaders. The distribution maps, compiled over a 20-year period with help from thousands of volunteers, showed a decline in the numbers of the common 10-spot and 14-spot ladybirds and a number of other species, including the 11-spot, 22-spot, cream-spot, water and hieroglyphic ladybirds, Coccidula rufa, Rhyzobius litura and Nephus redtenbacheri. Conversely, increases were seen in the numbers of harlequin, orange, pine, and 24-spot ladybirds, as well as Rhyzobius chrysomeloides. The kidney spot ladybird was recorded in Scotland for the first time in recent years, and the 13-spot was found to have recolonised Cornwall, Devon, and the New Forest. The most commonly recorded species was the 7-spot, closely followed by the Asian harlequin — an invader that arrived from continental Europe in 2003 after being introduced to control pests. An 'explosion' in the number of orange ladybirds, which feed on mildew, is thought to have been due to the warmer, damper conditions that now prevail in parts of England.
The atlas Ladybirds (Coccinellidae) of Britain and Ireland published in 2011[29] showed a decline of more than 20% in native species due to environmental changes and competition from foreign invaders. The distribution maps, compiled over a 20-year period with help from thousands of volunteers, showed a decline in the numbers of the common 10-spot and 14-spot ladybirds and a number of other species, including the 11-spot, 22-spot, cream-spot, water and hieroglyphic ladybirds, Coccidula rufa, Rhyzobius litura and Nephus redtenbacheri. Conversely, increases were seen in the numbers of harlequin, orange, pine, and 24-spot ladybirds, as well as Rhyzobius chrysomeloides. The kidney spot ladybird was recorded in Scotland for the first time in recent years, and the 13-spot was found to have recolonised Cornwall, Devon, and the New Forest. The most commonly recorded species was the 7-spot, closely followed by the Asian harlequin — an invader that arrived from continental Europe in 2003 after being introduced to control pests. An 'explosion' in the number of orange ladybirds, which feed on mildew, is thought to have been due to the warmer, damper conditions that now prevail in parts of England.
screaming from beneaththewaves 01 Jun 14 18:46
The EU voted to restrict neonicotinoids just 7 days ago, The Leopard. I'd be doubtful if there was already an effect.
Britain was the only country to vote against the restriction, on the basis of the studies linking them to bee losses being flawed. Looks like we were right, but it's too late now.
Neonicotinoids are valuable because they protect crops from insects that attack cereals and soybeans, but are harmless to mammals.
Without bees there would be no crops. Hth
The EU voted to restrict neonicotinoids just 7 days ago, The Leopard. I'd be doubtful if there was already an effect.
Britain was the only country to vote against the restriction, on the basis of the studies linking them to bee losses being flawed. Looks like we were right, but it's too late now.
Neonicotinoids are valuable because they protect crops from insects that attack cereals and soybeans, but are harmless to mammals.
Without bees there would be no crops. Hth
this was discussed last year but has anyone noticed a big decline in grasshoppers ? used to be 1,000s in the fields near me in the tallish grass ,haven't seen any for ages ! why ?
Loads of bees in my garden too....all over the blue ceanothus!
Lots here too 
Think there was a suggestion of importing some from Sweden?
Whatever the reason it's great to see so many.
Think there was a suggestion of importing some from Sweden?Whatever the reason it's great to see so many.
swedish bees coming over here stealing all our nectar
Facts: Without bees there would be no crops. Hth
That is a statement of ignorance on so many levels.
Currently just 20% of the UK's crops rely on insect pollination. That proportion has risen from 8% twenty years ago owing to increased planting of oilseed rape.
Over those twenty years the yield from insect-pollinated crops has risen by over half, despite a sharp decline in the honeybee population. Which means that evolution and nature are acting as they always have: adapting to fill a gap and restore equilibrium. The lack of honeybees has simply meant that all the other insect pollinators have taken the opportunity to get at the nectar.
That is a statement of ignorance on so many levels.
Currently just 20% of the UK's crops rely on insect pollination. That proportion has risen from 8% twenty years ago owing to increased planting of oilseed rape.
Over those twenty years the yield from insect-pollinated crops has risen by over half, despite a sharp decline in the honeybee population. Which means that evolution and nature are acting as they always have: adapting to fill a gap and restore equilibrium. The lack of honeybees has simply meant that all the other insect pollinators have taken the opportunity to get at the nectar.
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