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. Wasps are fine (but still shit).Previous: >>5117649Related: Vipers Bugloss plugs being prepared by based Anonymous from the other thread.
I saw a bunch of bumblebees and carpenter bees in my Vitex bushes today. I've also got some small white flowers that look like miniature daises growing wild in my yard; these are very popular with some tiny native bee that's slightly larger than a grain of rice.I'm also seeing two types of green bees, one of them is entirely metallic green, the other is green on the head and thorax and has a black and yellow abdomen.
I don't know a whole lot about bees or botany but I just want to thank OP for being a good contributor to the board amongst a sea of shit. We need more of this good type of autism and less of the seething-over-cats-and-dinosaur-feathers kind.
>>5129267I'm curious what your mini daisy is. Stellaria?
>>5129267Ok, you lucky fucker. I’m gonna guess you’re also in a southern US state. That little bee is almost certainly Perdita (aka the ‘Fairy Bee’) one or the smallest bees on earth. You lucky, lucky bastard. The two green variations are Halectidae again - the ‘Sweat Bees’. The all green are the females and the green with striped abdomen is the male (species: Agapostemon Virescens). Fuck, I’m so jealous, >>5129275Awww, bro ;)
Some of the 20 Borage plugs preliminary to being potted this past Saturday. I now have six in flower, six coming into flower, another 12 setting buds, then these 20. Waves of Borage right through to the emerging queens late summer.
>Note that Mellifera (‘honey bees’) are banned from this thread.How am I supposed to get honey, then? Are there native alternative species that would hurt less?Still planting a shitton of flowers and letting "weeds" flowers for pollinators of all kinds to enjoy.
>>5129351No. You don’t need honey, it’s all just hype. Still, I appreciate all you’re doing, based fag. >>5129267Pic related of your guys. I can’t stop seething with envy of you.
Since last thread I have been growing some common comfrey in a 15l pot and it's gone fron a small seedling to a pretty big leafy plant. Had to move it to a shady area of the garden to protect from sunburn but it seems healthy now. Will 15l be too shallow for it? I only want it to grow mature enough to harvest it's root to plant even more from cuttings so I can eventually have a nice annual crop that attracts solitary bees but I can then cut back for mulch by late autumn.
I'm doing my part.
>>5129281I'm not sure what it is. Here's a pic. Alas there were no bees in it. There weren't any in the Vitex either, just a ton of colorful little flies that would not sit still long enough to photograph.>>5129291>you’re also in a southern US state.Correct.I'm also seeing a ton of a strange kind of wasp. They're about the same size as most wasps. Their appearance is completely black except for a single horizontal red stripe across their abdomen. It looks like they are wearing a tiny belt. I've never seen one sit still, they constantly fly in little "search patterns", hovering just a few inches over the ground, never more than about a foot or so high. I assume they are parasitic and this behavior is them searching for their hosts to lay eggs on. They aren't aggressive in the slightest and they behave very different from the usual paper wasps, mud daubers, yellowjackets, etc.
>>5129479It'd be a bit silly to of me to try and diagnose an Aster like this one from another continent unfortunately, they're tough.Pretty thing nonetheless, thanks for the pic
>>5129479>>5129497I just went back out and now there were different insects to see.Still no bumble or carpenter bees in the Vitex, but the green ones are back. They look exactly like >>5129377
>>5129505The micro-bees were out again. I spotted this one along with some other insect on one of the mini daisies.
>>5129506Also, my 7-year-old Dutchman's Pipe Vine has never flowered before, but this looks like it's just about to open so it will be interesting to see what it attracts.
>>5129505More action in the Vitex now. Normally the carpenter bees around here are huge but this one was smaller than most. There was also some kind of tiny bee on that flower but alas it took off just a split second before I got the pic. It looked more orange than the one in >>5129506 but that might have simply been pollen, I only got a really quick glimpse of it.
>>5129533the bumblebees are back too
>>5129479>Their appearance is completely black except for a single horizontal red stripe across their abdomenhttps://www.inaturalist.org/observations?month=5&place_id=1&taxon_id=54028&view=speciesSpider wasps for your perusalSome have been recorded in the UK though I've not seen one myself. >>5129505The green ones are so cool lookin.
>>5129535I'd have to catch one of the wasps to get a good enough look at it to distinguish it from lookalikes. It could be one of the Lophopompilus species.
>>5129393Holy based Phacelia. I’m seeding some this week. >>5129382Yeah, if you want roots then definitely pot it. 15L should give you about 30cm depth which is probably bare minimum for that tap root. It’ll likely coil but you’ll get thick lateral roots coming off it that should be ideal for propagation. Oh, also this thing is a nitrogen hog so feed it a lot to get those fat leaves which will help with making good roots. Also, welcome back to the thread, buddy. >>5129479Reminds me a little of Phlox. Some kind of subtropical, marshland kind of plant that probably likes a lot of humidity. The little Perditas are likely on it for the pollen which it looks excellent for. Nice looking plant. >>5129505Fuck, yeah, man. What a beast! Big, big guy. I saved that pic, cheers. >>5129506Yeah, definitely pollen. Loading up. Beautiful fucking bee. They’re not in any way related but that shimmery, gunmetal kind of colouring reminds me of related: the Hare Bell Carpenter Bee. Also one of the smallest and native to the UK. I have a couple coming in now. Beautiful to watch. I saved this pic too, thanks so much.>>5129510Looks like it smells.
Do bumble bees have a time of day they prefer to eat? There's a bunch of flowers in my yard that I see them buzzing about in and I was wondering of they had any known preferred foraging times so I can grab some pics/videos when they're at their highest density.
>>5129264Oh my God! JC! A bombus!
>>5129692Usually full sun. They’re evolved to deal with damp and shaded conditions but the sun helps them both with thermo regulation and nectar synthesis. Plants generally pump better in full sun, too, so they’re more highly scented. Pics are desperately needed on this thread so we can run the image limit again to prove how gay it is. Also, which flowers, please? We always need this information.Related, my borages just coming in to sun now with a couple of Terrestris that have just turned up.
>>5129724Oh, and in case you can’t spot them, they are here and here. Yes, I am too lazy to get my fat arse off my Fleet Commander Adirondack chair to go and photograph them properly.
Have you prepared your elite Crab Spider seek and destroy kit yet, Anonymous?
>>5129595>Looks like it smells.It was open this morning, and so far no obvious smell. No obvious insect activity either though. We'll see what shows up later.
I have a Prunus lusitanica shrub which just started poppin off in the heat the other day. It has thousands of little flowers, which just about everybody seems to like. So far I've seen solitary bees, tiny wasps, hoverflies and a variety of dipterans taking an interest in the flowers. Bombus species don't seem bothered by it, for some reason.Today I spotted this guy for the first time, I believe it's Adrena cineraria.
>>5129902And this bee, which I'm not sure what species, these are both new to meI'll get do some more staring at this shrub tomorrow, nice
>>5129902Andrena truly are the most beautiful of all bees. Absolute rock star looks. Also, Bumblebees likely aren’t interested because the flowers are probably too small to be worth the effort. You must have something else going on that they prefer. >>5129903I could be wrong but looks like a Hawthorne Mining Bee. So also Andrena but the more waspish side of the tribe. All this family are amongst the most important fruit tree pollinators, by the way.
>>5129903>>5129902Great photos, by the way. I also saved them, cheers. Related is a Hawthorne for reference. I think it’s her anyway.
>>5129293And today. So nine days after receiving them as plugs in 9cm pots, six days after potting them. Already throwing up the flower cluster. In case anyone was ever in any doubt about just how fast Borage is.
>>5129931Definitely not a bad shout. I wondered also about Andrena scotica but there's a number of unassuming dark n fuzzy Adrenas it seems, it's beyond me.>>5129944I must be fucking up, mine are still dinky although they have some true leaves. I'll stick them in deep pots tomorrow.
>>5129945Yeah, Andrena have a load of species and it doesn’t help that a shitload of them are called some variation of ‘Hawthorne Mining Bee’. In this case I think she’s A. Chrysosceles (the European variation, related) because Anonymous has an Ashy Mining Bee which aren’t found in North America. So he must be in Europe somewhere and this Solitary is pretty common in Europe this time of year. Also, how long have your Borages been in pots? You want to be careful on them getting root bound because that tap root moves fast. It’s not a drama though because they’re exceptionally adaptable. If you do see any root matting, just don’t touch them or try tease them or anything. Just stick straight in root ball cavity. Oh, and make sure you mix in a little compost of some kind. Maybe one third ratio. As soon as the flower clusters start separating, give a Tomorite feed (or similarly phosphate) at very low dose. Like 20ml to 4.5L water and maybe 500ml per plant only after a full watering. Then repeat every couple of weeks but only when flowering, not before or you’ll get a load of worthless leaves.
>>5129820I looked this plant up. Apparently it traps flies to force them to pollinate which made me legit chuckle out loud. Also not in any way interesting to Bombus or Solitaries which is probably a relief. I’m looking for a really helpful series of Bombus ID posters for you and other Ameribros but your US Department of Agriculture is pretty gay, too, and won’t let anyone outside the US access them. I’ll keep looking though and tag you when I find them. Pic somewhat related. The magnificent Euglossini, aka ‘The Orchid Bee’; native to Central America but increasingly spreading into US southern States so keep an eye out for it, my man.
>>5129534Oh, I meant to say I think this is a Carpenter Bee. They have that really chonky kind of velvety build. A good way to ID them is look for this black circle on the high point of the thorax (‘mesoscutim’ I think it’s called). Another great shot, thanks. I’m keeping all of them.
Bee meme BeeHow can I help bees in 2k26? Get a bee hotel seems like a nobrainer but is it that easy?What else can I do besides planting some flowers (that can provide pollen for the bees)
Doing my part giving wasps lots of sugar and meat to fight the honey bee menace
>>5130093>How can I help bees in 2k26? Get a bee hotel seems like a nobrainer but is it that easy?Not really. Reed/bamboo twig built ones that are quite common these days attract spiders and the proper ones are basically wood blocks with hole grids. They need to be cleaned out annually for them to be reused by bees but you can get builds like this which are pretty decent and easy to do. Depending on where you live there is a bunch of plants you can use to bee max like lavender that's a fairly hardy perennial.
>>5130093Don’t get ‘bee hotels’, bro. They carry a lot of mites and shit and most Solitaries aren’t really designed for them. Find out what kinds of Bumblebees there are where you live in and we can come up with an easy flower plan for you. Or just tell me your general location and I’ll research it for ya.>>5130095We should develop a Vespa that only targets mellifera. Imagine how utterly glorious it would all be.
>>5130098>>5130099>called bee hotel>not actually good for beeswtf, next you'll tell me that bug spray isn't good for bugsI live in the netherlands, we have some lavender. there's plenty of other lavender in the area so they're fine, but I was looking for something more akin to protection for thembesides plants, there isn't anything else that could help them?
>>5130115iirc shady log/leaf piles are not a bad start as some solitary species will make nests in them while at the sametime you will get some matter breakdown into a compost for you to use.
>>5130099>>5130115Bee hotels are OK if you do it right, i.e. don't buy the cheap shit. Either sanitize a wood block regularly or get the paper tube variant. Also don't buy the short shit, it's literally misandrist!
>>5130119No, they aren’t. They bring in mites and diseases and, as I said, most Solitaries aren’t suited to them because they are solitary. And most people don’t take care of them anyway. If you want to bring them in then cardboard mason tubes are best but, again, most people don’t use these properly either. The best thing to do to help bees is to plant flowers for them. They will sort out their own accommodations as they need. >>5130117Please stop.>>5130115Lavender is a very shit tier plant. As I said, find out what your local species are and we can do an easy flower plan for you.
Biggest Terrestris Queen I have ever seen in my life just dropped in to my foxgloves today. Biggest bee of any species I’ve ever seen. Clocked her in at a massive 3.5cm which absolutely has to be a record even for this species. I feel I should call someone up to tell them.
>>5130144To confirm. This is a species that is usually recorded as max 2cm. What I don’t get is why the fuck she’s out now, too.
>>5130144You're a big bee
>>5130158for you
>>5130144She’s now sleeping overnight on one of the foxglove stems. The greatest possible honour there is. I feel so emotional.
Not enough adorable Solitary Bee images.
>>5130144I reported this fucking Goliath to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. She’s spent two nights in my garden now which means she’s one of the summer queens being produced by this phenomenon in London where big Terrestris colonies stay active over winter due to the microclimate and zero competition for various exotic shit people plant in their bullshit ‘Asian’ gardens. So she’ll fatten up here for a few more weeks then head out to get mated. Once that’s done, she’ll hopefully head back my way where she can feast on Echium Blue Bedder, Phacelia, and copious amounts of Borage so she can get even fatter and more gargantuan. And then she’s off to make her own colony which is why everyone who lives in London needs to plant at least one Mahonia. Because you, too, could get visited by this absolute fucking unit and her behemoth offspring and watch them constantly crash into everything because they’re so massive.
Here's an Andrena haemorrhoa that I saw in '23>>5130775>phenomenon in London where big Terrestris colonies stay active over winter dueThat is bananas, so they just stay alive and keep getting bigger?
northern yuropoor hereit's june and i have seen maybe 4-5 bees this year so fari'm worried for the little niggas
I have a carpenter bee living in one mounted orchid from my collection. She dug a hole in the pith. Goes out at like 8 am everyday and comes back at like 6 pm. I love her with all my heart. She pollinates my tomatoes. I was planing to get some logs and drill some holes on them so her offspring can live in them. When choosing a hole to live in, do they prefer it if the wood is dry or moist? I couldn't find any information about it.pic is the hole where she lives.
>>5130824Just realized you can see her little butt in there. Its only 4 pm. Must be because it's getting colder in the souther hemisphere. The species is most probably Xylocopa andica, btw
>>5130783Such a beautiful bee. I saved that image hard, cheers.And, nah. They have the same lifecycle but produce colonies through winter and largely attributed to many London parks planting Mahonias apparently, plus it’s a few degrees warmer than the countryside. So usually a queen emerges late summer, mates, then spends a couple of months (September-November) fattening up. This is why one of the most important times to have flowers for Bumblebees is autumn. She then hibernates, usually in some hole in the ground over the coldest months, emerging occasionally to feed if the weather warms up (Mahonias again). They have a form of antifreeze in their blood that is interestingly being studied as a possible solution for deep space travel (cryosleep like in the movies will actually kill you). Then she emerges in the Spring, looks for a nesting site (why you see big Bumblebee queens flying low to the ground this time of year), stocks up on shitloads of pollen from fruit trees especially (why Bombus is the most important fruit pollinator along with Solitaries) then sets up her first nest. With these London Terrestris (they’re the only species doing it), new Queens just set up a colony end summer and then that powers through and produces new Queens like this in Spring. I think she’s very large because she has some kind of gene for gigantism or some shit. I’ve noticed two other Terrestris workers in here that are as big as Queens so I think there’s some kind of genetic thing going on locally and they’re all related. Size is determined usually by good nutrition but genetics also play a part. She truly is a titan. To put her in context, the largest Bumblebee on earth is related, the Patagonian Bumblebee, and she’s almost that big. Average for a Terrestris Queen is 2.2cm to 2.5cm at most but that’s the size of these workers. So something’s going on. Not that the BTC, who spend most of their time sucking off the Mellifera lobby, will do shit about it.
>>5130824I asked AI about some of this as I don’t know this species. First off, I know like all Carpenters they’ll be territorial so if you want more than one, then drill blocks of wood but keep them apart. Drill upwards at a 45 to stop rain coming in, and it should always be east facing because these bees are big and need sun to warm up in the morning. They also like chewing their own tunnels so they can get their pheromones on them so you only need to do one starter hole for her (no more than 12mm wide, 2cm deep). They continue to use the same nesting sites so they like to set them up. Now AI tells me that this species likes soft wood. It specifically mentions these that are local to you: “Kapok (Ceiba wood), Balsa, or any native tropical softwood that has a fast-rotting or pithy interior structure. This specific bee naturally bores into thick orchid flower spikes because its mandibles are highly adapted to chewing through soft, spongy plant pith rather than solid tree trunks. Avoid local hard mountain woods”. Alternatively, you will be able to find basic, untreated construction timber (MUST be untreated). Apparently this is called “madera de encofrado” in your neck of the woods. The dimensions you need are:Length: 30 cm longWidth: 10 cm wide Thickness: 5 cm thickDrill bit: 12mm wideDrill length: 2cm (she’ll dig the rest)Note it is REALLY important to get the width just enough for her to squeeze in. So no more than 12mm or it’ll leave her exposed to predators and pests. Also ensure it’s 45 degrees upwards so the rain won’t get in. And east facing. Those are all absolutely essential.Lemme know if that all makes sense. If you do want more then just get a bunch of those blocks but space them out a good metre apart. Carpenters are aggregate bees (so they’ll cluster) but they are still true Solitaries and they get pissed off if they’re too close to each other. Beautiful, beautiful bee, by the way. I am jealous af
>>5130841Yeah, it kind of makes sense. Not that sure about the width of the hole, though. I reckon it's like 20mms wide. I'll try to post pictures of the logs I prepare as soon as I get some spare time. Curious thing is that the AI mistook the carpenter bee I have with orchid bees. I live in the coastal desert and It's way too cold for orchid bees to live. Those are really colorful and nice, and some of them make their nests inside hanging orchid roots, kind of like how some wasps live inside tree galls in europe. Sadly, I can't find pictures on the internet.
>>5130862Ok, but then measure the hole she’s going in and out of exactly. It seems incidental but this is crucial with most solitaries and Carpenters especially. They are inordinately fussy because that site will be generational. If it’s too big, the wrong angle, the wrong wood, they won’t use it. Worse, if it’s too big, parasites and small predators can get past her to her brood cells. A lot of people just drill holes or use those useless bamboo ‘bee hotels’ and never see any bees and this is why. They aren’t just holes to them. Once she starts digging through, she angles and starts to make her brood tunnels so it’s very important to get this right. According to the AI, this species maxes out at 22mm so that’s the maximum you should go. Measure it anyway but whatever you do, don’t assume she needs more space for comfort. All Solitaries nest in very small tunnels and spaces because it’s better protection, better to work with, and better for insulation. If she needs more than 22mm she’ll dig it herself. Just get her the right wood, remember to angle it up 45 degreee, two centimetres (no more), and east facing. And definitely post pics and updates, please. This general is running all summer so I’ll be around and I’m always very interested in Carpenters especially. And yeah, the great Euglossini. The most beautiful bees on earth. I mentioned it here >>5130020. Planning to visit Costa Rica one day just to see them. Like little flying jewels. The males make ‘perfume’ to attract females. Just the most amazing bees.
>>5130866>>5130862Sorry, I meant 12mm, not 22mm. Really don’t go wider than 12mm. She can dig the rest herself if she needs to. They ain’t called ‘Carpenter’ because they don’t like a bit of a wood project!
Any plant recommendation for southern Japan? I have a bunch of stuff (mostly crops and wildflowers), but I want to plant more and would like to have fuzzy friends.
Finally got a capture, if shitty, of a native bee of I think the Diadasia genus (maybe D. rinconis), i.e. the cactus bee. Now if only I'd focused a split second faster before it flew away. Little one's feeding on a chain-fruit cholla flower.
>>5130883The answer is always more flowers, my man. Always. Sounds like you’re doing awesome but if you have the space and sun I highly, highly recommend fruit trees of some species but ideally in the prunus and malus families (apple, plum, cherry, etc.) which will help out related - the magnificent Osmia Cornifrons (the Horn Faced Bee). A true Solitary and one of the best fruit pollinators on earth. It is massively important to Japan’s fruit industry and is the bee primarily responsible for pollinating most of the fruit you eat. It literally belly flops into the flowers to coat itself with pollen which is its own unique foraging adaptation. Alternatively, and as a strict rule, always plant native. Native is evolved for your soil and atmospheric conditions and will always help out native Solitaries especially. Let me know if that helps, or I can do more like find out which are your local Bombus and Solitary species so we can do something more targeted. And thanks for doing all you do already; you are based af. >>5130797Whereabouts are you, friend? Give a general location so we can find out what’s going on? Also, are they honey bees (the cunts) or Bumblebees? Do you have space and sun to plant like a pot or something to help out? No worries if not - the main thing is to spread the word that Bumblebees and Solitaries are in massive crisis and need all the help they can get.
Seeded first wave of 10 Phacelia. This better fucking work.
>>5131067The sheer chaos of 20 potted Borages. I think the neighbours think I’m some kind of junk yard white trash cunt running a farm or something. And they’d be right.
>>5131067>>5131068And this is only the beginning. All of this is going to be a sea of blue by July. Currently feeding six Terrestris, two Lucorum, two Pratorum, two Four Banded Flower Bees, and one Harebell Carpenter. Goes to show what’s possible with a tiny space and some sun. Just glorious.
I had a bugloss sitting around I was going to give to me mum, intriguingly it has thrown up a flower head. I'm guessing this is stress of being in a small pot>>5131067I just sowed some as well. They are easy, fast growing plants often used as cover crop, so I'm sure it will be fine.>>5131069The plants/junk yard aesthetic is very appealing if you ask me
>>5131090Well, they’re in little 4L rose pots to max out the tap root but I chucked some round the garden and threw a few handfuls into the air down the street because fuck it. Also, yeah, that stress flowering. I’d cut that spike off stat to stop it signalling for seed. Obviously a really healthy plant though so it’s gonna be a monster once it’s planted.
I have a random kiwi plant that was supposed to become a natural fence. It makes pretty flowers and attracts every pollinator known to man>bees>bumblebee>bumblebee (giant)>black bee (bigger even)>yellow jackets >small black wasps that look like those predator ones
>>5123038Comfrey patch which was established about a month ago, the first tiny flower buds have just appearedThis is a super easy one if any anon wants a nice easy plant grab some bocking 14 roots and away you go>>5131114Very nice, snap some pics of those guys if you can, it'd be cool to see
>>5131095>4L rose pots What's the depth on those?>cut that spike offHave done so, cheers
>>5131044Then flowers it will be.I almost only have native stuff, (especially the wildflowers that are often overlooked as weeds) so i'm good on that front.I wild get my hands on more flowers.I have seen a fuckhuge hornet this morning, I hope it won't attack bees. Not like I could do much about it, I guess, but still. The hornet was just going around drinking nectar.
>>5131140Sorry, man. I keep forgetting you’re an actual gardener so you know your shit. My attitude towards any of these plants is exactly the same as it is to women - nobody in this house eats for free, bitch! (Yes, I am single). But cool. Get it into the ground soon anyway but don’t touch the roots. Like Borage, that tap root will freak the fuck out if it’s touched. If it’s coiled, just leave it; it’ll uncurl slowly. Pots are 21.5cm deep. It is fucking impossible to find pot length without needing massive volume. Anyway, according to the AI, phacelia can cope with shorter length but prefers about 20cm for its tap root so I’ve about done it. >>5131314Nah, don’t worry about the hornets. Hornets are an issue for fucking imported Mellifera not native Japanese bees so more power to them. Doing God’s work one hive at a time. And that is supremely based, thank you. The concept of ‘weeds’ is entirely relative. I consider roses to be weeds and I actively encourage so-called ‘weeds’ like dandelions. Dandelions are a huge benefit to sluggish Bumblebees first thing in the morning because they’re low to the ground so it’s a quick easy meal and a very high quality nectar, too. Also, native means it’s evolved for native bees. One thing you can do (but you don’t need to) is look up what your local Solitary and Bombus species feed on traditionally and plant more of that. But to me it sounds like you’re doing everything right so again, thank you so much for real.
Here is some freshly made bullshit mix... Subsoil, sharp sand, perlite, rocks, whatever>>5131335Hah I didn't mean it this way, I actually didn't think of it. I had 25cm pots from co-op recycling just needs holes drilled.
And some slightly sad lookin borage plus friends, I guess they will perk up. Phacelia sowed in the rest
>>5131371>>5131377That substrate looks perfect. I’d pot those borages separately, man. As per related in 7L pots, they get absolutely massive. Removing them now is best before that tap root starts heading down but I’d dig deep around them anyway. Otherwise you’re going to risk losing them altogether. Did you add any compost to the mix? Also where did you find 25cm pots in Co-Op? What literage are they out of interest? The Phacelia looks awesome, by the way. Holding thumbs mine get going as well as that.
>>5131385At the back are the 25cm co-op ones about 12L to the rim, which is why I thought I might squeeze two in. Is it too small? I'll repot if so.I literally get them from their recycling in the car park out back, I see them in there a couple times a month maybe. They're a touch brittle as made of recycled plastic.The mix has some reused compost and some topsoil in it, I felt it's right to keep the organic matter relatively low, mostly it's the kind of trash garden contractors like to bury 6 inch below your flower bed surfaceI explained that really badly. The empty ones have broadcasted phacelia seed, at the front we have bowles mauve, nepeta and a salvia.
Pic rel... Highly Recommended
>>5131394Sweet. I’m gonna check it out. And looks like you and I have the exact same plants this year. Based, yo. I’m potting up my salvias tomorrow. The Bombus especially are fucking mad for them. Superb plants.Also, yeah, I’d definitely repot those Borages, man. They get massive. Related are 11Ls with a 23cm square diameter at top. You can see they send up a central and then usually a couple more major stems from the center. So they need a good 15cm space around themselves. Otherwise those roots are going to crash straight into each other and then they’re fucked. Have you got spares to move them into? I know it’s a fag so it’s up to you but that’s been my experience with them anyway. And yeah, your substrate is perfect (mimics the natural limestone shit they evolved in) but if you move them out, then I’d stir in a good litre of compost of some kind per pot. Once you see the flower clusters separate then give them a very low dose Tomorite feed (or any potash, not nitrogen like seaweed, etc). I use 20ml to 4.5L water then 750ml per plant for the 11Ls, 500ml for the 7Ls. You’ll see there’s a distinct phase where the flower clusters form so not then but when they start to separate like orange segments. That’s the flowering process starting so boosting them then will get that nectar pumping. And then same feed every second week. It’s Bugloss that wants the same poor, skree-like substrate but very little nutrition because it has two years to accumulate; but Borage is a very fast pioneer plant so it needs some percentage of compost in the soil. My mix for these 11Ls was 60% top soil, 20% grit, 20% gravel, then 1L foxglove compost per plant stirred in plus 1 teaspoon dolomite powder to get that limestone type ph (slightly more alkaline). Those exact ratios got them from 9cm plugs to full flowering in exactly one month, five days. So it’s a very fast plant.
>>5131440Yeah, I’m definitely going to look into this, I’ll head up my local Co-op tomorrow and see if they have any. Absolutely perfect size.
>>5131441I see - I've undershot it a bit then. I'm not confident I'll get them out intact, so I've pinched one off in one of the pots, and left the other two as little experiments, we'll see how they do crowded. I'm out of shitmix for now and got some plugs coming in soon so, I'll set up some more soon with better conditions. CheersGood luck with the pots
>>5131761Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to seem like I was criticising you. You have way more experience with plants than I do. 12Ls is a massive root and surface area so two should actually be fine. Logically this would happen all the time when they grow wild and I’ve not read anything that says they need a specific surface area. The only thing that’s specified is the depth for the tap root. So yeah, I wouldn’t cut any out if you haven’t already. And keep me posted on how they do as that’s highly relevant to my interests for next year, Also my Phacelia sprouted, Three and a half days. Fucking get in.
>>5132053Ah certainly no offense taken, a lot of my experience goes towards growing annual vegetables who just want to gobble up organic matter, it's always good to share notes. We will see how things turn out under these conditions.Incdentally I've found this paper today, it's about species selection for pollinator meadows but provides some interesting info on nectar production species by month. It seems that common ragwort and knapweed may be good species to growhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4920406/Very nice germination on those Phacelia seeds, must be good seed.
Just bumping this quick to come back to later.
Rearranged shit. Might rearrange it again. Also, bees see on the blue spectrum so any time you see a plant that’s blue, lilac, purple, lavender, pink-ish, whatever - those plants have very specific adaptations for WILD bees. So remember this: mellifera is not native to most of earth so all of these plants were evolved for Bumblebees and Solitaries. ‘Honey bees’ is basically some niche Arab shit. All these plants spit on them.
Just a quick age and your daily reminder that wasps are quite literally gay.
>>5129264lol I looked at that pic related and thought ‘sundews aren’t really good for bees!’ Then I realized the plants just had hairy leaves and weren’t carnivorous.
Current inventory:ACTIVE:6 borages (retiring)12 borages (full flower)8 Salvia Caradonna 3 Salvia Merlua4 Salvia ‘Sensation’ (dwarf variety)8 Catmint ‘Purssian Blue’2 Digitalis Purpurea Camelot White8 Digitalis Purpurea ‘Foxybee’ white 3 Digitalis Purpurea ‘Foxybee’ apricot2 Digitalis Purpurea ‘Foxybee’ red6 Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’5 Digitalis Illumination ‘Dragon’UPCOMING:20 Borages 6 Echium Vulgare ‘Blue Bedder’10 Phacelia DUE:10 more borages seeded mid June 10 more phacelia seeded mid JuneAll this in less than 20 square metres.
>>5133540The great and mighty Vipers Bugloss. Looks like shit as a seedling but the absolute God Emperor of all bee feeding plants on earth. The Number One. The All Time King Daddy. The absolute GOAT. One day I’m going to have a field all of my own and this is all I will plant in it.
>>5130093Plant some more flowers and make sure to plant most of your species favourites at that.Also I recommend loam boxes for digging bees.
Out on the Vermont\NY border and I'm thinking i should do more for beesLots of tubby fucking bumblers about, but sadly I haven't really seen much on my property now that the dandelions have died down and my lilac bush finally gave out for the season last week. Is Bee Balm really all its cracked up to be? I'd hope for something perennial, leaning towards agastache or maybe bergamot (really depends on what my local nurseries have in stock to be quite honest)Its not a big plot but I can keep at least a ten by three crescent pretty clean and atleast eight hours of sunshine.
>>5133740OP here, I’m coming back to this, boss. Gimme a few hours.
quick bump; sorry, it’s been a mental week
>>5134082Don't worry about it. There will always be time for bee.Speaking of which finally had the presence of mind to try and snap a picture of what always gets a few bombus boys every day right outside my door.
I think OP might appreciate this one:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRpdzGlnRfoDude has the seocnd most autistic channel on youtube that I know of.
>>5134158>larvae = larvy>pupae = pupyae = ay so larvay and pupaydamn his pronunciation but the video was nice
>>5134158I actually want to kill that motherfucker.
>>5134158So is the reason the hive went to shit because he left it in a location where ants could get into it? Or is that just sort of what happens to them regardless. It feels like it did decently good going by what it was able to produce more queens like that which hopefully were able to establish elsewhere in a more secure location but if he was caring for it and just sort of fucked off for a few weeks it felt odd he didn't have a way to put it somewhere safe
>>5134853He’s a worthless cunt. The friendless virgin variation of an animal-hoarding menopausal old bitch. Fuck him, the fucking weirdo.
>>5134881>>5134749Why are you so angry over bees.
>>5134997If you knew about them as much as I do, you’d be angry too, bitch.
>>5134087Had a torrential downpour last night as an end to a heatwave we've been suffering through. Saw this little dude warning himself up
Had a major fucking incident with some cunt spider today. Not sure of the species but I was busily zapping mellifera with my trusty electric fly swatter when i turn round and unbelievably luckily see one of my Bombus caught in some fucking trap line and spinning wildly while the fucking spider is racing down the line ONE INCH from her. Anyway, just pure instinct kicks in and I brought the swatter down between them faster than fucking Thor. My bee drops and I then get to spend a way too stressful fucking five minutes that felt like ten years snipping the webbing off her back while also trying to stop her disappearing between the decking gaps as she got herself more and more tangled up in it. Imagine having to cut fucking spider webbing off a bumblebee while it loses its tiny little mind spinning around. I just don’t need this degree of stress, man. Luckily I got most of it off and she could fly so she managed to get upright then booked it while I hunted down the fucking cunt that caused all this shit. Nuked its whole little web set up it had behind some bamboo canes. Then set hose to jet and sent a tsunami under the whole decking to drown the filth out, It got one chance and it won’t get it again. Anyway, sorry for delays. I’m just super tired. I’m definitely going to reply to anything I haven’t, sorry.
I'm waiting for a sunny day, poor start to June here>>5135003CuteI suspect this is a bee-mimicking fly, check out that proboscis>>5135338Bad ass, well done
>>5135497Opposite here. It's been a drought and I swear the pollinators are way down. Barely any flying insects on the flowers for this time of year.
>>5135497>I suspect this is a bee-mimicking fly, check out that proboscisYou think? Same guy from another angle if that helps. I never even gave thought to there being bee mimics in my area but honestly why wouldn't there be. I could have seen scores of them and not even noticed.
>>5135548One tip off to me is the venation on the wings, the more distinct cells at the far edge isn't typical for bees (hymenopterans), whose wings usually end in a sort of papery thin, wavy edge without such well defined cells. >>5131761Less objectively, the squat posture and dinky head with bulging eyes say diptera to me.No shame, that's the best bee mimic I've ever seen by a good margin, very cool
>>5132969Every single one of my 20 Borages has begun to flower. Potted as 9cm plugs on 23 May. Three weeks. Three fucking weeks. THAT’s how fast Borage is. A turn around from seed to flower of six weeks. Also I used AI to come up with an optimal substrate of John Innes 2, adding coir, replacing grit with perlite, and added Envii pond buffer (calcium and magnesium) plus Dolomite powder that I’ll now be using permanently. >>5135548>>5135578Yeah, this a fly. Bees always have a distinctly bee face plus two sets of wings. The observation on wing difference is spot on. Also, with the exception of drones that just sit around and do fuck all, all foraging bees you see are female ;)
>>5135749Current count:8 Bombus Terrestris on permanent rotation (Borages, Salvias, Nepeta)2 Locurum (ditto)2 Hortorum (Borages, Foxgloves)1 Common Carder (ditto)2 Four Banded Flower Bee (Nepeta) 1 Harebell Carpenter Bee (Nepeta, Salvias)Mellifera sent to hell - 12
>>513575013
A quick search tell me this is the mammoth wasp regiscolia maculata>waspYeah sorry, I'll try to contribute some real bees
>>513575115 This is over a day and a half, by the way. Double the number of Bumblebees and Solitaries in four weeks in less than two days. That’s just how much of an issue mellifera is. And I’m actively taking them out so they aren’t even getting back to do their fucking retarded little ‘waggle dance’. If I didn’t, they’d quadruple in number at minimum. Fucking vermin. >>5135758Extraordinary design. Looks like something an AI would come up with. Beautiful.
Ok bee bros help me out please, couple questions. 1. What I thought were dead cedar in the back of my lot are actually southern pine, probably only dead a couple years. I didn't see a single insect hole anywhere in the first 7 feet of trunk, nor even any woodpecker marks. Should I drop those dead trees, section them, and drill pilot holes for solitaries?2. I live in the piedmont and outside what's left of the hummus and needle cover at the back of my lot (probably a few thousand square feet) it's all dogshit red clay. I have a couple spots where the grass won't grow or grows like shit and I want to tear it up and plant semi-shade, high soil acidity (in pine needle drop area) tolerant perennials for solitaries. Any suggestions?3. What can I plant in the same dogshit soil that'll tolerate full sun and southern US heat?Thanks in advance.I also saw a super fat carpenter bee hanging out next to the utility pole, suspect its nest is near it so I've been leaving the area uncut. Seems to like my roses, it's been so hot and dry the phlox won't flower even with watering.
I respect bees and know they're important, but I can't get over my intense fear of them. Whenever I hear buzzing by my ears, I start sweating and freeze, like I can't move my body. I know it's an irrational fear, but they terrify me. Any tips to get over this?
>>5135790>find somewhere with lots of big fat carpenter bees (the chillest of bees)>sit where you can hear the buzzing and watch them be awesomeThe arboretum in my city has old wooden benches in the rose garden and it's like walking through an international airport of greater carpenter bees, they're all over the place and completely chill (just don't sit on the benches where they nest). The citt made some new, non wooden benches nearby and is quite happy to leave the old ones to the bees.
>>5135771OP here. First off, thank you for helping wild bees, my man. Second, absolutely do not cut down the dead snags. Carpenters will drill higher up because they want especially full morning sun so you may not see their nesting holes. Other than them there are countless tiny solitaries you can’t see but will definitely be in that wood. If you cut it down, you’ll inadvertently kill them all. Also, cutting up logs and the debris that comes from wood cutting actually increases fire risks. North American Bumblebees and Solitaries have been living around and with and in dead trees for millions of years without any human action needed. So yeah, definitely leave them. They are home right now to possibly dozens if not hundreds of bees you can’t see. On your specific plant questions. I looked up your soil conditions and see (much like London) you’re in a pretty big clay region. Clay is very nutrient dense but it needs plants with a strong tap root to drive through it. So I don’t know what roses you have and if they’re cultivated but your native species of rose are the Carolina Rose (native to the south east US), the Swamp Rose, and the Prairie Rose. All of these are evolved locally and all are heavily foraged by native Bumblebees and solitaries, plus drought tolerant and love full baking sun. My only caution on them is if you do plant them, don’t just fill the hole with compost but mix it into the soil 50/50. Planting them into pure compost will create hydrophobic issues between the two mediums.Other local species native to your region with massive tap roots evolved for clay are Purple Coneflowers (packed with pollen especially), Rudbeckia (the ‘Black Eyed Susan’), and the Blazing Star (related - reminds me a lot of Vipers Bugloss in its colour and format so I suspect it’s going to be very interesting to native bees). All of them will thrive in those sun and soil conditions.I’m going to do another post to answer your other questions.
>>5135771>>5135848Ok, so on to the other questions. I got AI to give three candidates to cover a variety of wild bees for the southeastern US with a focus on your soil type and sun conditions. All will feed both long and short-tongued Bumblebees as well as solitaries and are suited to acidic, semi shade environments. These are the ‘Early Azalea’ (related). Correct name: Rhododendron prinophyllum. Like most rhododendrons it really likes acidic soil and especially from Pine. There are three global hubs for rhododendron which all evolved from the same proto plant like 60 million years ago before Laurasia split and North America was created. So they are very, very ancient plants and highly adapted to native bees. This plant is spring flowering so very important for Bumblebee Queens plus is a mass flower producer. Then also the ‘Eastern Columbine’ (Aquilegia canadensis). This is perfect for your soil and light conditions and will be extremely helpful for long tongue bees especially. Then finally, ‘Coral Bells’ (Heuchera americana); small flower clusters that are highly attractive to native Solitary Bees. So those are what I’d recommend. If you have the space and inclination I’d recommend all but if you were going to go for only one then I’d say the Azalea just for its pure flower output. Then on your utility pole, yeah, just leave the area uncut. Wild bees always, always prefer undisturbed, quiet conditions so if they’re not causing you issues, I’d leave it. On your Phlox, by the way. I tried to grow this once and it really struggled. It evolved in North American swampy conditions so it has quite unique needs. It likes overhead canopy but high ambient temperatures. It’s also got a very light, delicate root system. The soil round about where you are is very clay based so yeah, it likely won’t like it. I’d dig it up and pot it (all wild bees love it) and then maybe put in something like the Rudbeckia. Lemme know if that all helps.
>>5135790I know exactly how you feel, friend. I deal with these animals all the time and I’ll still flinch if they buzz me (they aren’t actually buzzing us - bees see in ultra violet so we’re basically just blurry big blobs to them). I can reassure you though that all Bumblebees are very, very low sting risk. I’ve literally picked them up before and they do nothing. I even did all this shit >>5135338 the other day and despite holding her with tweezers and being right up close to her, etc. as soon as she could, she just bolted. Solitaries are even less likely to sting because most are tiny. In fact, the Andrena family (so Mason Bees) are routinely used to educate children they’re so chill. The bigger exceptions like the Carpenter as this guy says >>5135797 are exceptionally benign, too. As always, it is only mellifera (aka ‘the honeybee’) that are aggressive, and especially any variant of the African ‘Honeybee’. I’d definitely follow that guy’s advice to sit around them and also include that if you come across Bumblebees in a park or something, do the same thing. Just stand or sit around them and you’ll find they are absolutely harmless and the buzzing is just a feature of their wing speed and not that they’re angry or whatever.
Look how magnificent this plant is. Just look at it. Absolute supreme specimen. One thing I’ve noticed about Borage is this slight rippling in the stem. Like a soft wave structure. I reckon it’s a physics thing so the plant stem can take the weight of needing to bend the flower clusters. Also note how the leaves around the flower clusters droop so the flowers are open to the sun and wild bees for pollination. Just incredible.
>>5135871Such a specimen, I'm jealous.Sadly I'm waiting on pay before I can expand my setup>>5135790I agree with anons, and would like to suggest learning a bit about identifying your local bees and bee phylogeny if you didn't already. The curiosity and knowledge about what you're looking at helps
>>5135874Whoops
>>5135871I'm actually a little frustrated because I can't actually find any at my local nurseries. Or at least the three I visited. There's a really big one about an hour away that can probably hook me up but that's gonna have to wait for the weekend but I would really like some. I did pick up some bees balm that should be really nice and help cover up a nice sunny bare patch.
>>5135887You don’t need plugs, friend. Seriously, just seed them. They will be up and flowering by August. Given the timeline on these, they would’ve arrived at me at two weeks old and then basically four weeks to get to flower. They are an extremely fast pioneer plant because where they evolved (Syria, around Aleppo) goes into baking heat by the summer so they have to move fast between the cooler spring rain and then the wind and increasing heat into early summer. So it’s a very, very fast plant. If it’s interesting to you, this is the substrate I used for these and I’ll use for the seeds. Just seed straight in. 7L deep rose pot (must have minimum 25cm height for the tap root and filled to the brim):3,750 ml John Innes No. 21,600 ml Cocoa Coir1,600 ml Perlite550 ml Worm Castings1 tsp Dolomite Powder1 tsp of Envii Pond BufferThe pond buffer and dolomite powder are calcium and magnesium, and lime to neutralise acidity. The coir assists in root exchange to maximise nectar. Worm castings are necessary food for the growth period. If you use horticultural grit instead of the perlite then you can nix the pond buffer and dolomite as it’ll leach what it needs from the stones, but the worm castings (or some kind of high value compost) are essential. Once flower clusters separate then a Tomorite feed once every two weeks of 20ml to 4.5L water and 500ml per plant. But you can forget all this and just use a poor soil mix but it’s crucial to add some kind of compost. Not major amounts but about a litre for 7Ls, and then keep up a potash feed for the flowering period. But I guarantee you, if you seed now you will have full flowering by August. Guaranteed.
>>5135875This Erysimum is coming along really nicely. Also, see this? This is what I mean about the clusters separating. I would give all these plants a Tomorite feed now. They move from growing leaves and stalks to pumping energy into the flowers as soon as they separate like that. So low dose - 20ml to 4.5L water and then iirc these are 12L pots so I’d just give them 750ml each. Give it the morning after they’ve had a good drink the night before to avoid root scorch. Also I’m really impressed with how good they look in that pot. You were clearly right about potting two - more than enough space. Don’t get worried they look small, I promise you they just suddenly bolt once the flowering begins. Remember full sun as much as possible. Also, what else is in those pots?
>>5135875>>5135901Whoops, forget pic. Anyway, this is your mark for flowering action. So yeah, definitely a Tomorite feed this weekend if you can.
>>5135848>>5135859Thank you man! I'll go ahead and put some guy wires on those dead trees to mitigate them coming down on a neighbor's property and causing an issue. And yes, the bases are in complete shade because of everything around them, makes sense why I'm not seeing any nests.As for the plants I'm sitting on an acre and while I do need most of it to be grass, partially for septic and partially for soil retention due to the stupidly heavy rain we get sometimes (Helene dropped 5 in on where I live in a day), I'm not really interested in some boring striped lawn. I moved out here a couple years ago from the northern prairie and I want trees and flowers and shrubs and everything that couldn't survive a winter near the Wyoming border, or a summer that averaged a half an inch of rain a month. Native bees are cool as shit (a few early season ones rawdogged my peach tree and it's absolutely full of fruit) and I love them. I'm down to turn a good 1/4 of my yard into bee pasture, especially if it means I can just lay down some pine straw or mulch every couple years and not worry about it. I'm getting half my lot regraded for a shop so once that's in I'll have about 5,000 square feet of southern and western exposure that needs redone.Also these are my roses, I have no idea what they are and I know I need to deadhead them but they've been going gangbusters because I water them twice a week.
