Hello /an/,You are now reminded that Bumblebee season has officially begun in the northern hemisphere. Bumblebees and Solitary Bees are in massive crisis so this thread will be to discuss ways to help them, ask questions about how to plant for them, and general bombus chat. Note that Mellifera (‘honey bees’) are NOT in crisis, are actually a major culprit in the decline of Bumblebees and Solitary Bees, and aren’t even native to most of the northern hemisphere anyway - so they are banned from this thread. So are wasps which are just shit generally.Related, my borage in pots just starting to come into flower.
Night shot of my Pulmonaria. These are for the Hairy Footed Flower Bee (anthophora plumipes) which are one of the earliest solitary bees in the UK. I just keep them in pots so I can easily move them around the space I have. This is not gardening - it is shepherding.
A. Plumipes female. This is one of the fastest bees on Earth, reaching a relative speed of Mach 1.5 and an average of +40G when turning and accelerating which is why their organs are encased in a type of jelly as a shock absorber.
Save the Bumblebees
Is it worth trying to save the bumblebees from my apartment balcony? I face a minor highway but with lawn and parking lot in between. What should I plant for them in eastern North America?
>>5117815Absolutely. If you have even a single window ledge facing the sun, you can plant it up and it will massively help them. In fact, Bumblebees and Solitary Bees need more help in urban environments than anywhere else. Lavender is probably the easiest to grow in a window box. You can also stagger plant them so you get year-round interest (daffodils in spring, lavenders and salvias through summer, then ivy and sedums for autumn). All very easy to plant up. Lemme know if that helps or you’d like more tips.
While I wait for other bombus bros, imma just use this thread to post fascinating bumblebee facts. Related is a Lucorum in a foxglove. The ‘spots’ on foxgloves are a specific evolutionary adaption solely for bumblebees. All bees see in ultraviolet so any northern hemisphere plant that is pink, lavender, blue, purplish, anything on the blue spectrum is evolved to attract both bumblebees and solitaries (not ‘honey bees’ which are niche and native to the Middle East only). So these ‘spots’ on a foxglove light up like runway lights in bumblebee vision to guide her to the nectar pockets at the base of the flower so that the pollen brackets at the inside top brush against her back.
My seed haul for this year. 1kg phacelia, and multiple packs of borage and Echium blue bedder. The phacelia I’m seeding to distract vermin ‘honey bees’ but the borage and Echium are both bumblebee nectar power houses and grow fast so with my limited space I’m hoping to feed an average of 50 to a 100 bumblebees a day through summer and well into autumn.
>>5117649No wasps = lots of caterpillars = no plants for bees. It’s all rock paper scissors.
>>5117833cool bug fact's
