Another lovely day to celebrate the Spring Equinox. There were bees all over the garden this morning, loving the Muscari especially and the Viburnam was alive with busy buzzing.
Category Archives: bees
Spring Equinox
Community Roots
It was so lovely to be back at Community Roots today (A pause on reporting our adventures on our road trip.) Working with the volunteers, laughing and catching up as we pricked out baby lettuces and set them on their way, was simply a joy! See the 100’s we potted on in the gallery below.
This one landed on my sleeve while I was working and I managed to catch it on camera. I love the furriness and the delicate wings
Babies potted on
Even more baby lettues
Poly tunnel prpped for planting
Squash harvest
Butternut squash still on the vine
Post Box Topper, A Rubbing and Tomatoes 26/7/23
Sadly, our family visit was a flying one but at least the days they were here we had sunshine and lots of laughs and fun. Today it has rained almost non-stop.
Just along the road is a delightful new post box topper of bees and a beehive.
We have less wall space than we had in our last house and have some art works in leaning piles. This lovely rubbing was given to us 50+ years ago by a college friend when he came back from Thailand. It is now on its way to a new wall.
We picked a handful of tomatoes yesterday and ate them in BLTs for lunch before the family left.
Sweet Peas, Sweet Corn and Bees
I have spent much of the afternoon in the shade of the arbour, reading. When I looked up, this was my view, Sweet Peas and Sweet Corn in the raised beds against a backdrop of a cerulean sky The tassels on the corn are turning brown so we should be able to harvest them quite soon.
When it was a little cooler, we went down to the allotment to water the cucumbers, courgettes and squash. While the lovely Mr S was doing that I was taking photos of bees on a neighbour’s very dark bronze sunflowers.
Irises, Poppy and A Bee
We are loving our white irises.
When the petals have all fallen off the poppy, this remarkable little beauty is left.
The following photo and info came to me today.
“There is a bee appearing at the moment – it’s bright iridescent blue – details below! Please please DON’T KILL HER !!!
It is indeed a bee that is present in the gardens at the moment. It is called the Xylocope bee. It is the largest bee in Europe (2.5 to 3 cm). It does not sting (if we do not chase it of course). The Xylocope is a so-called “solitary” bee. But it can live in colonies, that is to say side by side. Black with bluish wings … she is very beautiful but can be scary, her flight is fast and very noisy, but she is not aggressive and rarely stings. It is to be protected because it is rare and very useful …. some people confuse it with the Asian hornet !!!
Thank you for circulating …. 
Source: Bruno Deleuze”
Foxgloves, Bee and Hedgerow
Our hedgerows have changed colour from blue to mostly pink and yellow with some white. The Foxgloves are gorgeous and the bees love them. We heard a cuckoo on our walk around this morning. As I write I can hear two owls calling to each other. .
Looking over the hills from the Great Flat Lode across to the sea where a navy frigate is coasting up and down. It is here because of the G7 taking place in St Ives this coming weekend. There’s a missile launcher at Godrevy!
Sunset, Bee and Fish’n’chips
Last night’s sunset was spectacular and the colour was caught in the windows across the road from us. My Dear SIL, with whom I share a love of special words (like petrichor and serendipity) sent me a beautiful new word a few weeks ago and today I can use it to describe that lovely colour caught in the windows – enrosadira. It is used in the Dolomites where at sunrise and sunset, the rocky cliffs take on hues that vary from light yellow to bright red, to different shades of pink and violet, until the mountains disappear in the dark of night. Enrosadira is a ladin term literally meaning “turning pink” (Ladin is the ancient language of the inhabitants of the Dolomites). We get the same beautiful effect here in Cornwall!
What beautiful colouring on this bee and how glorious he looks as he searches for nectar in the Eryngium flower.
As the New Year started, work began on our local Fish’n’chip shop, just around the corner. Everything stopped during lockdown, building continued recently and today they opened so that was tea sorted! As an English teacher, the sign pleased me with its apostrophe, a little fish, in the right place!
Six on Saturday – Bee Happy
We had lunch in the garden today and were so aware of the continuous buzzing all over the garden so I set out with my camera to attempt, on a very windy day, to capture the bees on various wind-blown plants. Some of the photos, plants and/or bees, are a bit fuzzy. It is very heartening to find our plantings attracting so many pollinators.
On the French Lavender
Dozens on the Crinodendron
On the Lamb’s Ears
On the Cotoneaster
On the Mexican Fleabane
On the Thyme
On the Rosemary
On the Raspberries.
On the Broad Beans
I would love to be able to identify each of these bees, especially after hearing on the radio this morning that we have at least 150 different kinds of bees in the UK! I shall make a start….. Try here if you want to play along https://friendsoftheearth.uk/bee-count/great-british-bee-count-bee-identification-guide
The next photo is of a creature I do not know but which is very beautiful. The last time I posted a photo of a beautiful creature, a bright red one, I was very quickly told that it was a Lily Beetle and I should ‘dispose’ of it asap! I’m hoping this is a friendly and beneficial little critter.
Beautiful creature on the Mexican Fleabane
If you would like to take part in Six on Saturday, pop over to The Propagator’s blog where, in the comments, you can follow gardeners and their blogs from all over the world
PS I have discovered from the above mentioned site that the creature on the Rosemary isn’t a bee – it’s a Hoverfly.
Heliotrope, Cosmos and Petunia
The scent of the Heliotrope is just wonderful, not for nothing is its nickname Cherry Pie. The bees love it too.
Heliotrope with Bee
They also love the Cosmos.
Cosmos
I saw this pretty
Petunia
Petunia at the garden centre and want to grow it ourselves next year.
A Bumblebee, Raindrops and Dracaena Flowers
The sun came out today! We sat out and read our books, had lunch outside and soaked up the glorious warmth. We saw fleeting butterflies, heard bees in the flowers and watched a Bumble bee collecting nectar.
collecting nectar
still busy
Yesterday’s raindrops were still clinging to the purple Tibuchine Urvilleana in my Suffragette garden.
left behind raindrops
Our Dracaena Palm in the front garden is in blossom again.
Dracaena palm
