23rd March 2026 (Bees)

                                        Fortnightly Blog

Wildlife Gardening Tips in Italics




 

A spell of welcome warmth of sunlight... and spring bursts into action, yellow and gold! But in a wildlife garden, all that glitters may not be gold! Pussy Willow, a mass of golden pollen coated stamens – real gold for big hungry Queen Bumblebees, building up to creating their nests. Also, for Honeybees, flies and many more early insects – a resounding YES!




 All flowers in bold italics are bee-friendly for any wild garden. Pussy willow needs plenty of damp, so unfortunately is not suited to dry shallow chalk and limestone soils. Dwarf weeping varieties can be grown in a large heavy container, in sunny position if kept consistently moist. It’s a bringer of buzzing bees and joy!  



 Extravagant frills of double daffodils... NO! Useful stamens bearing pollen (not that attractive to bees) have been bred to convert into flouncy petals. These are a joy designed for gardeners’ eyes, useless as insect food, but convenient shelter for mini insects... can you see the three within?!


 Behind the white plum blossom is a dense floral yellow backdrop. Eye-catching Forsythia, that favourite of the Victorians, but again, its flowers raise human morale after winter grey, but NO good for insects! Plum blossom on the other hand, good for bees... and for us once pollination has delivered scrumptious fruit!




Amongst the yellow, a bright complementary colour contrast of blue – Grape Hyacinth/Muscari delivers the food goodies for bees... and a colour buzz for gardeners. And faithful Pulmonaria/ Lungwort is still a prominent bee benefactor and now attracting Hairy-footed Flower Bees – here a golden fluffy male and a black female.

 

Beeflies are about as well - convincing bee lookalikes holding long ‘noses’ or ‘spears’ ahead = their non-retractable tongues sticking out! 

  


Rosemary is now in full spate flower, having been feeding bees for months already.

 




Red Mason Bees are beginning to emerge from my bee hotels, males emerge first. Once the females emerge and the mating frenzy is happening, they will need egg accommodation for the next generation. 

Cut bamboo canes, smooth off ends, or if time is short... 

Buy cardboard or wooden  tubes, some with one end sealed (bee demands), available on line from: 

nhbs.com , birdfood.co.uk. , and Amazon.

If not sealed, seal one end with cut bits of stick.

Tube Size critical : 8mm for Red Masons, 10mm for Leafcutters. 

These egg to larva accommodations can be housed in a converted wooden box, or even an old plastic bottle. They must face south into the sun and best sited near pollen and nectar-producing flowers.


Stop Press!! Upcoming Events

 


An incredible film by wildlife cameraman Martin Dohrn on garden bees is showing Wednesday 25th March*on BBC4 8pm – FABULOUS photography and EYE-OPENING insight into the cleverness of bees! 
* This post is late due to change of blogger - apologies, but still very much worth catching on iPlayer! Worth watching for Martin's wonderful imitations of bee behaviour alone!!

 Plus two joint events by  Nature Chain Limpley Stoke and Freshford and Freshford and District Gardening Club :

'Flora of the Cam and Wellow Valleys' - A Talk by Helena Crouch 

Freshford Memorial Hall

Wednesday 1 April 2026

7.30pm


'Moths, Plants and our Changing Environment' - A Talk by Robert Kelsh

Limpley Stoke Village Hall

Wednesday 29 April 2026

7.30pm


Credits: ID’s: Steve Smailes; Wildlife Garden Photos: Nicolette Scourse

 

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