ideas for plants around deck edge

seven-day-weekend

arbrighton wrote: »

Very true. I am 34 and only stung by a bee for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was (probably) already dead, on the bottom of a shoe which I was trying to unknot the lace of!

I work in a primary school garden and the children are ridiculously frightened of bees. They don't realise how important they are

So maybe teach them? Let them watch the bees going about their business, tell them what the bees are doing and how important they are - I think the children would love it!

mumps

arbrighton wrote: »

Very true. I am 34 and only stung by a bee for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was (probably) already dead, on the bottom of a shoe which I was trying to unknot the lace of!

I work in a primary school garden and the children are ridiculously frightened of bees. They don't realise how important they are

Some people seem to attract them more than others. I have only been stung once in my 63 years and that was when I was pregnant wiith my son who was stung multiple times in his childhood. One bee fell down the back of his shirt, he wasn't doing anything to it as he didn't even know it was there. He was stung and I assume the bee was in a panic. The other times he was stung he was also totally innocent, I was there. My other children have never been stung and a friend is the same, 3 children and only one has been stung and that was several times.

whitesatin

My grandchildren are not afraid of bees, our garden is full of them to be honest. In fact, they are fascinated by them but I don't particularly want them to accidently kick the ball into the lavender and then try to retrieve it, as kids do. They would never hurt them in any way, deliberately, they don't do things like that.


I'm not keen on wasps (I'm allergic to their sting) but bees don't worry me, they just go about their business. Our garden is a haven for all wildlife, thankfully, but children playing freely is also important.

arbrighton

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

So maybe teach them? Let them watch the bees going about their business, tell them what the bees are doing and how important they are - I think the children would love it!

We do, frequently, believe me, but they, parents, and many of the staff are pretty fixed in ideas....

whitesatin

arbrighton wrote: »

We do, frequently, believe me, but they, parents, and many of the staff are pretty fixed in ideas....

I actually think that some people get confused between bees and wasps. Everyone recognises bumble bees but not other types.


Some people are just scared of anything that flies or buzzes near them, I know that my sister is like that. She won't sit outdoors and certainly won't eat outdoors just in case.

Davesnave

Sorry, but pollination has been part of the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum for donkey's years now!

Even if someone knows what an insect does, it doesn't mean they have to like it. Spiders are an obvious example.

andrewf75

whitesatin wrote: »

Some people are just scared of anything that flies or buzzes near them, I know that my sister is like that. She won't sit outdoors and certainly won't eat outdoors just in case.

Sadly true. The increasing disconnect between people and wildlife is very worrying. Children are naturally fascinated by insects so if they grow up to be scared of them something has gone wrong somewhere.

Davesnave

andrewf75 wrote: »

Sadly true. The increasing disconnect between people and wildlife is very worrying. Children are naturally fascinated by insects so if they grow up to be scared of them something has gone wrong somewhere.

Children are pragmatists.

When I was only a toddler, an earwig nipped me, and the fact that I still remember shows it was an experience that had a marked impact, even if out of all proportion to the 'injury' caused.

That was then followed by a series of stings that all careless or inquisitive children receive, so I learned that these animals weren't to be messed-with and engaging with them wouldn't necessarily give me much pleasure.

My friends had mainly cute, fluffy animals as pets and so did I. Higher animals were, frankly, more rewarding than insects. That's kids; they go for the endorphin rush every time.

I don't think anything 'went wrong' in my childhood at all. I'd hazard a guess that the fascination with other creatures, besides those with backbones, kicked-in at age 11, or thereabouts, along with a few other things that I'd previously not thought terribly important!:rotfl:

andrewf75

By "going wrong" I just mean if kids grow up to have irrational fears of bees or spiders. If people grow up like the person mentioned earlier who won't sit outside because of it that is an issue!

Davesnave

andrewf75 wrote: »

By "going wrong" I just mean if kids grow up to have irrational fears of bees or spiders. If people grow up like the person mentioned earlier who won't sit outside because of it that is an issue!

Oh, that is, I agree.

I have an arachnophobic daughter, who's now an adult with responsibilities for things like residential outdoor learning, so she's had to cope in recent years!

We could never get to understand this phobia when she was a child, as neither of her parents or grandparents has it, nor her younger sister, who was generally far more timid and girly, for want of a better word.

That's why I believe even a small, insignificant thing can trigger this sort of reaction, which if they don't confront it, can stay a lifetime.