I’ve had bees, they were fine. I still have a bumblebee nest in the garden, which seems to be there year on year. But I also have some mining bees which live in solitary burrows. I leave them all to get on with it. Never troubled me, apart from strange holes in the garden or the massive “motorbike” like buzz of one of the big bumblebees.
It's not only Wasps though, it seems to be flying insects generally...going back a few years the windscreen would be splattered with insects in the summer...I know cars are more aerodynamic now but there are none on the number plate or stuck in the radiator grill anymore. It's like garden birds...years ago we took big flocks of Starlings and Sparrows for granted, Blackbirds, Thrushes etc, I just don't see them like that anymore...about five years ago I put up four feeders with different contents to try and encourage them but it made no difference, tbh the only things I get in the garden now are Grey Squirrels, Pigeons and Magpies.
I said the same about insects on number plates earlier, I think there are studies based on a 'splat test' and since the 80s, flying insect numbers are down around 70%. Thats just frightening. Could you imagine if human numbers declined so much over a period? But its the same for bird numbers and their decline. This year has been disastrous. The main thing we see in the garden are Robins and Goldfinches. Hardly see any sparrows now. Blackbirds are rare. We've not seen woodpeckers for 4-5 years. We do however get parakeets quite a bit, and a baby Jay a few weeks ago which was entertaining, but the numbers of all species are way down. And as for butterflies, I've hardly seen any at all. Last year we did really well with red admirals, I don't think I've seen a single one this year. The thing that does really worry me though... Imagine this in another decade. Nothing seems to be getting changed for the better so it wouldn't surprise me at all if in a decade a bird or butterfly in an urban garden is a thing of incredible rarity.
An article in the Guardian today https://www.theguardian.com/environ...itain-insects-surveys-butterflies-climate-aoe
I read it this morning, there's been a number of similar stories over the last few weeks. Really grim and I really don't see how it turns around any time soon. Although at least insect populations have the potential to bounce back quicker than bird and mammal ones.
One of funniest experiences I had with wasps was with my ex boss many years ago. We were painting the outside of a big house when we discovered some wasps were coming out of a hole in a soffit that needed painting. Every time he got near, the buggers stung him on his bald patch so eventually he went to the van and got his coat and proceeded with his hood up and his brush taped to a roller pole….on possibly the hottest day of the year Evil buggers!
Couple or three years ago, we had a wasps nest in an extractor half way up the gable end outside the back door. Had no choice but to get the pest control guys in. I had no clue how on earth he was going to deal with them but he just got an extender pole out, got his suit on and used that to spray the nest. I was watching on with interest until he said "you might want to go inside now, they are about to get very angry". 10 mins later they were gone. Get the queen to up sticks and the rest just follow.
Recently saw "the beekeeper" with Jason Statham on film. He would be pretty handy to have....mind u he would kill a lot of bad guys too...so could be pricy. Loved his bees though!
Yeah I saw that as well, where Statham is a bee botherer lol. Its just like every single film he does though, only this time, with lots of buzzing bees.
Yep, no swifts, swallows or even bats; somethings gone dreadfully wrong over the last year or two. Did covid get them, or have the right wing fascists scared them off.
Yes, I keep bees in the back garden and harvest honey from them for personal use and to sell, mainly to friends. There are labelling requirements to sell them, but I've been amazed at how much they can produce.
