Introducing the Red Mason bee, article for BTO Garden BirdWatch magazine
The BTO Garden BirdWatch is interested other garden wildlife too, e.g.red mason bees! Garden BirdWatch Ambassador George Pilkington introduces the Red Mason Bee, a species common in gardens but easily overlooked. As George reveals, these solitary bees...
What chemicals and how many times is the food we eat sprayed with in the UK?
Does anyone remember Rachel Carson? Well I do! I found it rather depressing and think everyone should read it. I am often asked why I started to garden for wildlife and why I eat organic food whenever I have the choice. I usually use the analogy that if I owned a...
Tree bumblebee adoption by TRG Pest Control and bee video
TRG Pest Control I have had numerous emails and phone calls in the North West Area and feel this information's well worth passing on. I hope more Pest Control Companies think the same way and show such positive action as this company shows. TRG Pest Control...
Solitary mining bee nest being sought out by cuckoo bee-video
Possibly Andrena nigroaenea and a cleptoparasitic 'wasp like' bee (Nomada leucophthalma?) in my wildlife garden Besides red masons, leaf cutters and a few other solitary bees nesting in my garden I have mining bees making their nests in soil behind wooden planks in my...
The toilet trained bumblebee queens! video
Tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) queens were toilet trained! I have never seen this before with any other species. This was a particularly successful nest in terms of producing queens many of whom I saw foraging and returning with pollen over several days. I lost...
Bumblebee workers sleeping outside overnight on flowers-video
Numerous bumblebee workers sleeping outside overnight on flowers- i.e. their workplace! When out foraging, there is a very fine balancing act for them to undertake. Find and take for their own use enough fuel (nectar) for energy sapping flying, then carry a heavy load...
Monodontomerus wasp silent deadly red mason bee assassin-video
Monodontomerus wasp silent killer of bees video for BWARS presentation 2013 I was asked to give a presentation about bees to BWARS at their AGM, Liverpool World Museum 29th Sept 2013. Well I thought, as an amateur and hobby wildlife gardener what on earth can I talk...
Spreading the ‘bee’ word to students and staff at Manchester Metropolitan University
Solitary Bees and Wildlife Gardening: Bee-riffic! Bees are an integral part of the world in which we live, in in terms of crop pollination alone it was estimated that in 2006 wild pollinators such as bees contributed £603million of pollinating for UK farmers! But...
A new bee hotel and its guests by biologist Dr. Africa Gomez
Tuesday, 20 May 2014 A new bee hotel from Nurturing Nature and its guests This year I got a new bee hotel, kindly given to me by George Pilkington from Nurturing Nature. What a great present! His bee hotel design has removable wooden sides with glass covering the...
Randy red mason male bees live a short but hectic life-video
Male mason bees Male bees are smaller than the females and require less food and cell space. They are laid near the entrance of the cavity and in my garden they appear 10-15 days before the females, who remain safely inside the cavity a little longer, further towards...