Bees now hatched from last year in the bee box

This is fascinating...the life of bees. Do you eat the honey? I've always dreamed of keeping bees.

Bathgate, I used to keep bees, but gave up after 30 years as Gerry became allergic to the stings. These are just small wild bees that have made a home in two of the bee boxes that we hung on the fence. They have been helping to fertilise out apple blossom.

I'm sure you get a bumper crop.

How interesting to watch, I have a Bee house but no visitors yet;0)

We placed one of the bee boxes up last year PP and a few of the holes were used. Apparently the bees lay eggs that hatch into lava and turn into bees, but they don't come out until the following spring. We placed the box under the carport in the winter, as the holes that get covered can get washed away with the very wet weather as they are made from mud. Interesting eh!

Thumbs up to you Linda. Our bees are in big trouble and need our help. They play such a vital role in our environment and well being. On behalf of bees everywhere - - THANK YOU!!

We love bees too Bathgate in fact we love the whole diversity of wildlife and plants. Bees are an important part of our existence and play a very important role of keeping our food chain going.

We also put up a Bee House, last year, but so far no lodgers. How fascinating it must be to watch the bees laying their eggs and the adults emerging the following spring. You're certainly doing your bit for the bee population.

I went to have a look at them yesterday morning before the sun got to the box and spoke to them and all six came to the front of their little holes. I thought this must be a fluke, but later they did the same before they started flying and they came to have a look at me again. Strange or what!!! Mind you I used to talk to my hives of bees when I had them. A queen wasp thought of taking over the little bees space and I grabbed the kitchen tongs and actually caught her before she did damage to my little bees and killed her. Gerry said I was either daft or brave and that he wouldn't have done that because of the stings. I don't recommend anyone doing what I did but I remember the devastation wasps caused to my hives when I had them.

Have placed another picture on of one of the bees who came to take a look.

I'm green with envy we have a box up so far only one hole has been blocked but no sign of life yet .... we have a bees nest somewhere in our vicinity at certain times of the day they swarm round our pig trough water feature to have a drink ...

Linda I forgot to ask you is your box placed facing the sun or in the shade ?

The sun gets there about 9 in the morning at the moment, but the fence it's on faces S.E. Amy.

Very interesting as I have been thinking of doing this as we have some very old canes dry stored that could be cut up for this kind of bee habitat Lindak. As said before we had a metal pipe once standing up in a lttle greenhouse facing south and each year bees came and used it to breed. They used to fly under my arms while I was potting up!

The other thing you can do is get an old log and use different sized drill heads and bore through the wood to a depth of about 3 inches and place it somewhere in the garden. Making a wooden box to contain the canes with a roof is a better idea as I should think the metal could get very hot for the bees Dorjac. There are all sorts of different bees, the bumbles will nest in the ground, usually under a hedge or in a bank. These are very small bees and good to have for the fertilisation of fruit trees.

Thanks Linda ,Mine is about the same it should be o.k where it is ,I'll have to put a rooms for rent sign up outside it ;o)

Hope you get some bees Amy.