Brilliant Bees!

[Claire Cawley]

I've written a short blog post on my intentions to fill my allotment with brilliant bees!

Whilst the main aim of having an allotment (for me) is to grow more vegetables than I could possibly squeeze into my tiny little garden,... Read the full post here (http://www.clairecawley.co.uk/brilliant-bees-fabulous-flowers/)

I can't wait for warmer weather now, sitting in front of the fire is so last month! (Drifts off into a daydream about pottering on the allotment, the sun on my back, bees buzzing round the lavender....)
Thanks for taking the time to look!

[David_JAFO]

hello,
I've got a honey bee hive in the cavity of my home wall under the window. There's no activity yet but soon as it warms the bees return & great to watch them go to & fro the very small hole next to the window frame. I've had a bee expert out from the environmental health to view it. I'm to receive new windows from the window replacement programme in the area & I've delayed such for now until I can be assured the bees won't be disturbed or harmed & access is provided to the hive. They were here long before me & as long as I can recall have used the same access area to the hive. A small plot of land I own, I'm planning to plant more wild flower & poppy seeds this year to attract more insect life & not forgetting the bees to what is already planted & thriving in the area. I had details from a nationwide wild flower seed supplier last year who offered free wild flower & poppy seeds if I gave them a mention. Deffo I can't wait either for the warmer weather.
Regards
David

[Pootle]

Another nice read, thank you.
It will be good to see what bee species you get across the season.

[Claire Cawley]

Hi David,
I thoroughly admire your view of 'they were here long before me'! Last year, we had some free wild flower seeds from Kew Gardens (through a 'big lottery fund' project - www.growwilduk.com) which had little DIY bee houses in aswell as packs of native wild flower seeds and info. I don't know if they are giving them away free again this year, maybe worth a look!

[Claire Cawley]

Thank you for looking Pootle! I'm pretty new to blogging and the allotment so will hopefully get better at both as the year goes on!

[jus_young]

We always seem to end up with a few hives in the garden. Upturned buckets, paving slabs laying haphazardly under the shed and in the garden wall, all have had their visitors and as soon as I know they are there that area gets left well alone. This year we have bought some boxes of wild flower seeds and these are to replace the normally formal planted areas in the garden.

[Claire Cawley]

That's interesting that you get 'unintentional' hives, Justin. Maybe some strategically placed items near our allotment plot will encourage the bees to stick around for a while...

[TarHeelBrit]

We have an old busted bird house in the back garden left from the previous people. It's one of those has has the stupid nesting box right above the food table. Well I was going to get rid of it until I realised the bees paying close attenetion to the bird house weren't just dropping by... they were living in the bird house so I left it. It's nice in summer watching them flit from flower to flower it seems they love my lavender and chives the most.

**EDIT**

I just started reading your blog (very nice by the way) I had to come back and say YAY to claire:happy-clapping::jumping-joy:*#* for being pesticide free....Me too. My garden and shed is a pesticide free zone. Although it is hard especially when the Aphids get to my roses. My neighbour swears by Alliums around his roses as a natural deterrent, might have to try that this year..

[Claire Cawley]

TarHeelBrit - Thank you so much! I must admit that I did get tempted by some 'organic' slug pellets a few years ago as pretty much everything in our garden gets destroyed by slugs. This was only for use around flowers, but I think I only used once, then it went to the back of the cupboard until Ashley found it and told me off! Once we had the chickens, there was no way I was going to put it down. Haven't heard about the alliums for deterring aphids. I have always used a very weak soapy solution (using a biodegradable soap) to squirt the aphids with on non-edible plants which seems to do the trick. I don't think the soap would do any damage to the garden and it doesn't seem to affect the plants themselves. But prevention is better than cure!

[TarHeelBrit]

Hi Claire, For slugs and snails I use a barrier of lightly crushed eggshells and used coffee grounds round my plants 99% of the time that keeps the little buggers off. Plus at the end of the season you can till it in and it breaks down to fertilise the soil. There nothing sadder that seeing you Brassicas get devoured by the slimy eating machines.

I used to use an bio soap to deter aphids until I went back for a quick look and saw what for me was a sad sight. The soap had killed the aphids but also the lacewings and ladybirds...poor little guys. Now I try to plant predator attracting plants (Chives, Fennel, Marigolds, Coriander, etc) in one corner of the garden and use a simple garden hose to wash the few off. Do you plant Tomatoes? have whitefly on them? plants some Marigolds as companion plants. I don't know what it is but there's something in Marigolds that whitefly hate.:)

I bet you didn't get much gardening done today LOL I was going to give the grass a tipping off as it's getting long but when your mower is blown down the drive by the wind it's maybe a bit windy out.

All the best,
Malc.

**EDIT**
Forgot to mention. As I said my neighbour swears by Alliums but I've never tried it...might have to give it a go this year.

[Pootle]

My neighbour swears by Alliums around his roses as a natural deterrent, might have to try that this year..

a bonus of this is that the bees love allium flowers. I used to leave some leeks to flower cause I like the flowers and they would get a lot of visits from bees.

[Claire Cawley]

Will try the companion planting this year i think, i forgot about coffee grounds! I used them last year with some good results. Did you know that starbucks will give you theirs for free? I saw one store offering little boxes, about 15cm square, but i just asked at the till, saying i wanted bulk and they happily gave me about 2 bin bags full!
Was sadly working all day and evening, right up until 10pm, so barely saw the garden today! But no, i wouldnt have got much done today. 2 of our local supermarkets had their roofs ripped off (one of them lost the whole thing, neighbouring houses ended up covered in its insulation :oops:) and plenty more damage besides! Here's hoping that tomorrow is better!

[TarHeelBrit]

Yes Starbucks is a good place to get spent coffee. When I was living in Raleigh our local coffee shack was called Caribou Coffee and they used to give me all the grounds I could use. Certainly windy here but not as bad as there, all I had to do was go next door and retrieve my food waste bin, I think my shed has moved a couple of inches on the patio.

[Pootle]

Coffee grounds will deter slugs, but use in moderation because they will acidify the soil and are pretty bad for the worms.

[Claire Cawley]

Good advice pootle!

[David_JAFO]

hello,
Claire since I've moved to here, I've watched some of the greenbelt being turned over to housing development watched the Badgers & Foxes having to move home further into the woods near the Nature Reserve. The honey bees hive is in the wall cavity & protected from the elements it has 'green' cavity wall insulation fibre to add to the warmth. It's just a pity I couldn't tap into the honey..LOL. It would cost the Council more to locate, remove & repair the hive location. The girl (bee specialist) agrees they have every right to 'bee' there & I ain't complaining so it stays for now. I'm lucky to occasionally see the Badgers come into the gardens at night feast on worms etc.. the urban Foxes are still thriving but they too have their dens in close proximity by the Badgers near the nature reserve. There was E.U & lottery funding for any group in the area who started an allotment last year. I shall look to the warmer weather & hopefully the return of the colony.
Regards
David


Hi David,
I thoroughly admire your view of 'they were here long before me'! Last year, we had some free wild flower seeds from Kew Gardens (through a 'big lottery fund' project - www.growwilduk.com) which had little DIY bee houses in aswell as packs of native wild flower seeds and info. I don't know if they are giving them away free again this year, maybe worth a look!

[TarHeelBrit]

Coffee grounds will deter slugs, but use in moderation because they will acidify the soil and are pretty bad for the worms.

Agreed, best used sparingly.

[David_JAFO]

hello,
The Bee's are back.. I spotted my first one this morning buzzing around the exact spot used to enter the cavity. No doubt I've missed more activity but it's the first so far & hopefully more to come.
Regards
David
:jumping-joy:

[Pootle]

excellent news. its good to see they've survived the winter.

[David_JAFO]

hello,
DEFFO.. auld wife's tale the first sign of Bee's is a sign of heat (weather).. :p
Regards
David


excellent news. its good to see they've survived the winter.

[john61rm]

I have to wait until the 28th of this month thats when I'm have two bee hives delivered can't wait.
We have just bought an old farm and plan to grow most of our food.
Two acres have 100 fruit trees so i have a real need for bees as last year i didn't see many at all

[john61rm]

Well after a glorious day with the mason bee homes in the sun
13628
The first one has hatched
13629
For anyone that does not know about mason bees here is a short blurb, They are better at pollenating than honey bees but they are a solitary bee. As a side note the first year I had these my garden went from an average producer to oh my god what am I going to do with all this food.
They do not sting nor do you get any honey or anything else from them. They do one job of pollenating for about 8 weeks lay three eggs per tube, which are capped of with mud then sadly they die.
13630
This one has some mites on it if you look between the head and body you can see what look like small balls. The bee will scratch of most of them off but some will fall off when she lays an egg and therefore next year when the new bee hatches so to will the mite.

[Midge_Fodder]

I've put up a few 'bee hotels' in the garden here. They were a fun make with the kids. I had some scrap ply in the shed and some bamboo staves. Who said looking after the kids was a chore.


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[john61rm]

Midge_Fodder: What kind of bees will you get?

[Midge_Fodder]

Buff tailed and red tailed Bumbles, we also get quite a few Carder bees. Since I've planted clematis the numbers in my garden have grown.


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[john61rm]

Oh thats great Ive only seen one type of bumble bee here, would love more types. I noticed that whenI put out the houses one or two had been colonized by leaf cutter bees

[Midge_Fodder]

I was quite surprised how fast they will colonise the houses.


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[john61rm]

Yes very quickly, I'm lucky in my backyard I have 100 fruit trees so get all kinds of pollinators turn up.

[Midge_Fodder]

I've got a few apple trees to plant up so we will see how that helps.


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[john61rm]

Thats good every plant helps your garden, and the bees will show their appreciation.