I walked out into my garden early in June to savour the peace of a Sunday morning at a time when people are still sleepy heads and lawnmowers are in the shed.
There was a hum in the air. It wasn’t traffic or a plane but the sound of bees at work. Worked up into a frenzy it seemed from the volume of the buzzing. Spoilt for choice as to which flower to visit maybe? I like to think I’ve supplied them with options.
Interestingly, two shrubs in particular were the source of the hum – the Hydrangea petiolaris that clothes the side of my garage and the Rosa moyesii ‘Geranium’ at the bottom of the garden.
Bee feeding on a hydrangea
The hydrangea had been in flower for a few days and the rose had just burst into bloom over night it seemed. Only yesterday I’d chased a squirrel out of it’s branches when I realised it was nibbling the buds. I’d seen them take the hips before – the orange, flagon-shaped hips that follow on from the flowers are a great feature of this rose. Annoyingly, they have become a delicacy for grey squirrels it seems. The flowers are a unique cerise, red colour and are in bloom fleetingly, but I love them. Especially against a clear blue sky in June.
On this fantastic morning, the bees seemed to be almost fighting over the rose flowers, as if they knew they wouldn’t be there for long. There was also a competitive buzz about the hydrangea. As the bees made their way through the large white flower heads, they were dislodging the tiny central petals. Dropping down onto the path (and into my hair as I discovered later) they created a carpet of blossom.
Bee on a rose
There were so many different types of bumble bees alongside the honey bees that I headed indoors for my identification sheet. If only they’d keep still long enough! Last year a bird box on the side of the garage was used as a nest by Tree bumblebees (Bombus hypnorum), a species first recorded in the UK as recently as 2001 but now widespread and thriving. It’s known to like suburbia and woodlands, making use of manmade environments as well as tree holes. No Tree bumblebees this year, but a blackbird’s nest built the previous week. No sign of the blackbird though for several days. I think she took note of the squirrel risking the thorns of the rose and decided to lay her eggs elsewhere.
From the top of the apple tree next-door, a blackbird starts to sing and I sit with my coffee and listen to the sound of summer all around me… before an electric lawnmower starts up.
