Sleepy bees

Hi, everyone.  Let’s talk about everbody’s favourite garden insect, the bee. There are three main types you will see. The honey bee, the bumble bee and the solitary bee. The first two most of you will be familiar with but it’s the solitary bees that are the major force in pollinating our garden flowers. There are over two hundred species and about twenty of those are very common in our area.
Few of us appreciate how hard they work in collecting nectar and thereby pollinating plants and keeping our gardens healthy. You may come across a bee that looks a bit worse for wear and appears to be on its last legs. This probably isn’t the case. It’s just tired and in need of a pick-me-up!
This is where we come in. If you mix one tablespoon of white sugar with one tablespoon of luke warm water and place it on a spoon, you have made your very own nectar substitute! Place the spoon just in front of the bee and watch as it takes a couple of sips. Within a couple of minutes it should fly off (but don’t expect any thanks!). Now place the spoon in your flower bed and sleepy bees can get at it themselves. It should be ok for about a week.
You are now a qualified “thirst aider”.
 
Phil