Bees ... where are they?

Zeusiblue

i can tell you where the bees are . they are all under my decking. ive been watching them come in and out over the last 2 days! is this a bad thing? should i be worried?

ixwood

How big are the spiders?

Dragonfly maybe? They can be large and hunt insect on the wing and then perch for their meal. Not sure, but might be too early for them though.

ixwood

No, don't worry about the bees. You're lucky!

Zeusiblue

i think they are bumble bees and not honey bees. i know they are good for pollenation. could they cause any demolition to the decking? also a bit worried about bee stings and being chased by a swarm as they increase in number. :eek:

ixwood

All bees are good for pollination. A Bumblebee species is much more likely.

They won't cause any damage. They just need somewhere dry to make a nest. They're harmless (They don't make honey stores so no need for a sting to defend it) and lovely little creatures to have around.

They also have much lower numbers in a colony than honey bees. A few hundred at most. Usually a lot less.

ixwood

Give them a treat and plant some nice food for them. Beebalm, Lemonbalm, Borage, Lovage, fruit bushes, Comfrey, Lavender, Verbenna will all be much appreciated. And of course, they come with the added benefit of nice flowers, herbs and fruit!

Zeusiblue

Oh thanks ixwood that is reassuring. i have lots of laveneder and rasberry n strawberrys. hopefully that will keep them sweet- pardon the pun !

mgardner

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I have loads of poached egg flowers this year and I am seriously worried, I have seen no honey bees at all, lots and lots of other bees, but I think no honey bees, maybe one, I wasn't sure. It's very worrying.

I too planted these to encourage the honey bee, and not much sign of them, Telford west mids, Usually load s by this time. I did read about a virus but it did not offer any advice on how to recongnise symtems or how to help

Have seen some quite unusually big bees, honey bees affected by virus,? Don`t know
enough

Lotus-eater

They think there are several reasons why the honeybee is having problems, none are visible apart from the mites, even then I think you would need a magnifying glass. Help isn't something the average man or woman can do as I understand it, just use less chemicals and get some bee friendly flowers in.
Sounds like you have bumble bees, here is a short guide to some of them.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/bug-forum/?q=gallery

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Can anyone tell me what this insect is,it looked like a wasp but was black and white instead of yellow and white and had what looked like two huge red eyes,although they were markings on the top of it's head.Same wings as a wasp too.I've never seen one before and just wondered what it was.