That's just not cricket!

The bees needed me yesterday, about an hour prior to their normal pit stop time. Autumn approacheth! I feel a need to achieve something positive, even though my voltmeter is getting dodgy; this is such a simple, yet satisfying little project, give back to the bees some of what they give us by feeding those in need, thereby hopefully giving them another day of pollination and feeding their larvae. 9 bees fed.

Observation is key to many things, especially in this case. I have discovered that placing drops of honey on the stems of lavender plants is not always successful; however, place tiny drops inside the flowers of the lavender and they will happily place their proboscisisss or probosces (correct spelling) inside the flower and will act as if they have arrived at a BP station and will happily suck up honey until sated. Most will then fly off once their inner turbines have warmed up. A few will overnight, peculiarly they prefer to remain inverted; they also stay on the underside of a flower head, thereby providing a bit of protection from dew and any early frost. Tonight I intend to try using a small syringe to inject honey into the flowers.

This morning a small hopper evaded the Garden fairy’s attempts to capture then release it by flying back over her head into the conservatory. 

The bumblers are sociable creatures, as may be seen here in the extra, just to the left side you may notice that something with gnashers has munched the stem. In the extra is what Clouseau’s guide describes as a “Murth.” No other information is available, apart from the bit about Murths being as important to pollination as bees, we have dozens feeding on lavender at night, they also raid the remaining drops of honey.

All information on identification and habitats may be found in Clouseau’s Entomology, available from Amazon.