It's that time of year again - Swarming season.

[Supermofo]

I like bees, cool little things.

Wasps on the other hand

[Mr. Dazzle]

Got loads of native flower species in my lawn, plus loads of lavender and other flowering plants out the front. Almost entirely cause I like bees and want to give 'em a snack.

[demographic]

I knocked up a Bee Hotel out of bits of wood and bamboo a few years ago which gets sporadic use and also we sometimes get leafcutter bees on (IIRC) raspberry plants and the Avocado I planted but looks like we'll never get an avocado from.

Stoll, leafcutter bees innit....yay.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Probably no great loss on the Avacado anyway, they don't give the same fruit as the seed you plant

[Count Steer]

Got loads of native flower species in my lawn, plus loads of lavender and other flowering plants out the front. Almost entirely cause I like bees and want to give 'em a snack.

Every year we plant about 10 African Blue Basil plants in pots on the patio. The bees go crazy for it and must come from miles around! It's sterile so doesn't set to seed, so it just keeps flowering quite late into autumn. It's supposed to be hardy but we tried cosseting them through winter in the greenhouse but never had much joy so just buy new, small ones in late spring (from Sarah Raven) and bring them on in the g/house before planting out. (Also Foxley trailing rosemary in pots - from Sarah Raven - has been a great success with the bees - it's hardy, edible and looks pretty good).

The blue basil looks good, smells good and is edible but a bit chewy cf the usual stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_blue_basil

I don't even mind wasps so much any more and a hornet sighting is quite exciting.

A place without the background hum of bees going about their biz would be pretty sterile.

Different bees need different food sources as they're adapted in various ways so a range of flowering stuff is We try to let a few stinging nettles do their thing too - for the butterflies and moths.

[Mr. Dazzle]

It's why I let a few Dandelions grow. They flower early and plentifully and are a spring food source for bees.

Probably not required when you see how many are on the roundabouts and verges though

[MingtheMerciless]

IMG_0301.jpeg (215.85 KiB) Viewed 150 times

Wasps are very good at predating insect pests.

Yellow and black stripes are used for hazard tape for a reason, deep in the primitive part of the brain there is an association of pain to the yellow and black stripes which means even if we don't initially register the danger contained within a taped off zone the subconscious part of the brain will trigger off the yellow and black tapes steering you away from it or making you look at the hazard.

Horse flies/clegs can burn in hell. Hateful things.

[Noggin]

Horse flies/clegs can burn in hell. Hateful things.

THIS!!! I don't mind wasps. They do sting but mostly because people do some sort of kungfogetawayyoubastardbreakdancing type dance and the wasp responds with attack! If you ignore them, then normally they just leave you alone too.

But horseflies - the are fucking bastards! No bloody warning and by the time you feel anything it's too sodding late. Nuke them all the little fukkers

(I grew up on a farm and we also had horses - so I've experienced those little fukkers wayyyyyy too much!!)

[Count Steer]

Wife got bit by some sort of steroided up hoss fly. Strolling along at the seaside on Penang Island - this thing arrived like a wife-seeking missile, landed on her arm, rammed the equivalent of a bloody corkscrew in her arm and was, like gone! Wife's not a wimp, but, there were tears, it hurt! (and swelled up like a balloon).

I suppose we should be happy in the UK, even the hornets aren't the aggressive ones...yet. No funnel-web spiders, scorpions etc.

[ninja]

I rode through a swarm of small bees in Thailand when I rented a bike once. I thought it was a cloud of flies hovering above the road, so I ducked as I went through them. A load went down my back. I had blisters, scabs and all sorts for a few months afterwards. It was a most unpleasant experience, for me and the bees.

I do love bees and grow stuff they like in the garden.