Honey bee decline and what you can do

Over recent years there has been a sharp decline in the number of honey bees in this country. This is due to various diseases and pathogens within colonies and possibly also due to environmental pressure from farming and changing weather patterns.

I’ve noticed very few honey bees flying about this spring, so as my Apple Cox’s Orange Pippin relies on cross pollination from another Cox’s Orange Pippin tree I’ve asked my neighbour if I can take a few blossoms from his tree so that I can pollinate my small tree.

 

Solitary bees are bees that live on their own, rather than in hives or nests. There are several hundred species across Europe, but very little is known about them apart from the fact that, like bumblebees, they are in decline.

 

The decline of bumblebees and solitary bee populations has also been linked to modern intensive farming

To encourage solitary bees I’ve put up solitary bee houses in my garden and each year they take up residence.

First are the masonry bee followed by the leafcutter bee.

 

Research shows it is not just insects that are affected by the actions of humans. The number of birds visiting our gardens and parks has plunged by a fifth in four years, a survey has revealed.

The decline follows a succession of mild winters and the growing popularity of paving and decking, which robs gardens of valuable plants and insects.

Bluebell identification – Wild and Spanish Bluebell

 

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides nonscryptus)
Other name: Wild Hyacinth
LILY FAMILY  Wild Bluebell (Hyacinthoides nonscryptus)

Flower: Little blue (occasionally white) bell-shaped flowers containing cream-coloured anthers, forming a one-sided and drooping spike. The lobes of the bell are strongly turned back.
Leaves: Long, straight and slender – grass-like – from the base of the plant.
Habitat: Mainly woodland, but also hedges and meadows
Height to about 40 cm
Typically flowering: April-June

The Wild Bluebell is of national importance, almost 50% of the world population being found in the UK.

 

 The Spanish Bluebell Hyacinthoides hispanica

H. hispanica is not a native to Britain, but is widespread in gardens.

The Spanish Bluebell produces slightly larger flowers on more erect stems with flowers on both sides, and the flower lobes are not turned back as much as on the Wild Bluebell flowers. Wild and garden bluebells hybridise easily, but hybrids tend to be found close to gardens.

There are problems with it hybridising with our wild Bluebell. Although there are lots of Spanish Bluebells in the wild here they do not appear to hybridise very often.

Worm casts are fertile soil ideal for seedlings

Worm casts

 

 

If you want to clear worm casts from your lawn and make use of them, collect them (ideally when dry) and use this nutrient rich, fine soil for your seedlings. Worm casts are a natural, fertile, soil with digested vegetable matter making them ideal for growing small seedlings.

Worm casts are excreted by worms once they’ve eaten vegetable matter and as burrow tunnels through the soil.

It’s best to mix in sharp sand or grit to aid drainage to the worm casts when potting up seedlings.