HONEY BEES & BUMBLE BEES – Page 3 – ROLLING HARBOUR GALLERY

“HONEY RUSH” – LAST ORDERS IN THE SEASON’S FLORAL SALOON

Published on September 21, 2013September 21, 2013 by Rolling Harbour4 Comments

The bees are working overtime as a chill spreads over September and winter downtime looms for them. So busy are they that there is competition for individual flowers – even though there are more than enough to go round. Bumbles were out in force yesterday, and there are still butterflies around, mainly tiny Small Coppers and Whites of different sizes.

We’ve done a quick assessment of plant popularity this spring and summer that produces this league table:

Hyssop – the runaway winner for bees of many types, ditto butterflies and (new entry) moths. Planted for the first time in May, and has effortlessly thrived (throve? thriven?) to become Nectar Central.
Lavender – perennial success with bees and butterflies. More planted this spring and very well visited.
Cosmos – new to the garden this year, a fast and easy grower, and hugely popular with bees, especially bumbles. Also visited by honey bees and butterflies, but only on their way the the hyssop.

Blurry, I know, but the intruder arrived from nowhere as I pressed the button… Why it didn’t land on one of several vacant flowers next to this one, I have no idea. Maybe fighting drunk on pollen?

A SMALL COPPER IN DORSET

Published on September 2, 2013September 2, 2013 by Rolling Harbour5 Comments

Putting aside thoughts of a ‘Two Ronnies’ sketch about policemen in Dorchester, the small copper referred to is a butterfly I photographed yesterday. I only had a tiny old Canon with me (hello, ‘Two Ronnies’ Church Dignitaries sketch), with its ‘battery dying’ light flashing and no charger to hand. So these pics are the best I could get in a hurry…

It’s been a remarkable late summer for butterflies and moths, with many species I have never seen / noticed before – including this little one. It’s possibly because we planted some hyssop in early May that has flourished. At any given time of day, there have been 3 or 4 butterfly species (mostly Red Admirals, Peacocks, Tortoiseshells and Whites); a couple of moth brands; 3 or 4 bumblebee types (mostly white-tailed and carders); and varied honeybees of indeterminate make. Apart from a white buddleia, we have never had a plant that has been so attractive to flying creatures. Even the flycatchers have enjoyed it.

HYSSOP, WITH VERY PRETTY SMALL BEE [ID welcomed via ‘Comments’]

SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY

‘BUSY BEE’: COMMON CARDER BEE

Published on August 13, 2013 by Rolling Harbour6 Comments

Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum

COSMOS: THE FLOWER (with white-tailed bumblebee)

Published on August 11, 2013 by Rolling Harbour8 Comments

NOW YOU SEE IT… …NOW YOU DON’T

JULY BUMBLEBEES IN DORSET

Published on August 5, 2013 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

DORSET BEES, WILD HONEY & A RED SUNSET

Published on July 17, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

GETTING TO GRIPS WITH A CANTERBURY BELL

IF THE CAP FITS…

WHAT ARE THESE ‘HOVER-WASP’ GUYS CALLED? I only noticed the gleaming gold thorax after downloading the photos

WILD BEES IN A WOODPECKER NEST BOX, ABACO, BAHAMAS

This year we had West Indian Woodpeckers using 2 nest boxes under the eaves.This successfully diverts them from drilling into the woodwork of the building. They raised two families this season, with 3 chicks fledging each time. Another nest box on a tree in the drive was not to their liking, and was quickly colonised by wild bees. The nearest small apiary – there are only two I know of on an island 120 miles long – is 15 miles away. These bees will never have known the luxury of a hive. I doubt they’d need or want it…

I photographed this sunset from our garden in Dorset a couple of evenings ago. In reality it was more dark pink than red, but by simply zooming directly at it the colour was altered dramatically. The second image is a simple crop of another photo taken seconds later, as the banding became clearer as the sun sunk below the horizon. It looks more like a planet. [NB No P/shop]

WHITE-TAILED BUMBLEBEES (Bombus lucorum), DORSET

Published on July 2, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

DON’T WORRY. BEE HAPPY…

Published on June 19, 2013June 19, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

A strange yellow disc appeared intermittently in the sky today. It is warmer. Time to venture into the garden. First stop – the lupins. Bees in residence? Check. Looking closely, I notice that they part the individual pods with their legs to get at the contents. There’s certainly bags of what they are after, to judge by the leg pouches.

Next stop: the nice pink flowers that are called… well, if someone wants to remind me, please use the comment box. They came from a nice house in Kent and have flourished on my regime of benign neglect.

Now that blue thing – Canterbury Bell, is it? Bee inside? Tick.

The foxgloves seem popular with the bumbles today. Only the purple ones, not the white ones. Such pretty patterns close-up, and such long hairs inside. The technical term for these is… forgettable.

GOOD GRIEF! When I pressed the ‘publish’ button, this turned out to be my 100th post on this ramshackle, poorly curated website. Thanks to the select, small (but slightly increasing) numbers who turn up to have a look from time to time. This isn’t my main project, but it’s a place to put a few nice pics from time to time. Merci, all. RH

WOODPECKER NEST BOXES: CORRECT & INCORRECT USES

Published on June 2, 2013June 2, 2013 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

I have left behind in the inner ‘burbs of London one family of woodpeckers, with fledglings almost ready to fly. I’ve immediately exchanged them for a family of West Indian Woodpeckers, at exactly the same stage, in the middle of nowhere. Here are a few comparative images. For some reason my ability to upload sound files of the raucous nestlings being fed is thwarted by a glitch, so I’ll add one in due course.

TAKE ONE PAIR OF WEST INDIAN WOODPECKERS

GIVE THEM A COUPLE OF NEST BOXES TO PREVENT THEM DESTROYING THE ROOF

SOONER OR LATER, THEY WILL PRODUCE A FAMILY – OR EVEN TWO IN A SEASON

HOWEVER, AN UNUSED NESTBOX IS ATTRACTIVE TO WILD HONEY BEES TOO…

SPRING IN DORSET: BETTER LATE THEN NEVER…

Published on April 22, 2013April 23, 2013 by Rolling Harbour7 Comments

Spring arrived in mid-Dorset last week. On Tuesday evening, swallows appeared for for the first time. On Wednesday, they were joined by housemartins. That evening, the unmistakable sound of an attempted break-in at the back of the house turned out to be a male partridge landing on, and strutting round, a corrugated roof. His mate then set off a security light, to her great surprise. Last year they raised 13 chicks. On Saturday morning, I was fishing for wild and wily brown trout, when a sandpiper flew up from the water’s edge. Plenty of people have been posting lovely Spring pictures. I certainly can’t beat them, but I’ll join them with a few photos from the last few days.

Buds are bursting The partridges are back, and other birds are out in force

The spring flowers are at their best

Baby blackbirds are already fledging

The rooks are pairing up, and nesting in the oaks

The alpacas are enjoying fresh grass and the warmth of the sun (attractive they may be, and useful mowers, but they were looking the wrong way when brains were being handed out to the animal kingdom)