First find your leaf.......

Hi, a tentative quick Blip. Copious TLC, legal drugs and sleep have enabled a drift back to port and a stabilised hull, with residual damage. Thanks for those who emailed mwah, mwah. 

Over the years I have watched as a fuzzy bumbler has taken a rolled up section of leaf into a small crack in the shed wall and fed it’s larvae. Yesterday I saw a leaf cutter slice off a section of soft rose leaf and leg it to the new property. I took this leaf off the rose to show where a previous section had been cut and a new piece was under investigation. The cut edges are usually much sharper but have dried in the present heatwave. Here’s what it does ℅ Bumblebee Conservation. 

If you spot a bee surfing on a green disk in mid-air – you’ve more than likely spotted a female leaf-cutter bee. The females relentlessly collect sections of leaf which they chew into a pulp and mix with saliva to create the walls of a cosy cell for their offspring. Inside each cell she will lay an egg and provide it with a mixture of pollen and nectar on which to feed. She then seals up the cell before moving on to the next one, before finally plugging the hole to the whole cavity with more leaf pulp. Her young will develop over winter and emerge the following year.

The extra is a young man in deepest do-do. One never knows when the dirty deed has been consummated, but you can tell he is not taking any chances of being toast! Turn your back, sloooowly move one leg at a time then shift into third gear.