Nature Features

“We have one species of honey bee which lives with a queen and hundreds of workers” says Stuart Roberts, Wiltshire’s County Recorder for bees and wasps and an Entomologist at Reading University.

“There’s twenty or so species of bumblebees, and some two hundred and twenty other species of bee, which are solitary”, he adds.

A Red Mason Bee

As their name suggests they live alone, laying their eggs in small crevices in the ground or in cavities in old wood.

While they are solitary, they are not unsociable and are happy to live close to other bees.

They are also among the best insects in our gardens for pollinating many trees and flowers.

Stuart Roberts has been working on a European scale survey of pollinators.

Ready for tenants

He says: “We’ve been able to establish that for Britain and the Netherlands there’s been a significant decline in the number of bee species, and the richness of these species in particular areas.”

“It’s something many of us have suspected for a while, but now it’s been proven.”

“The biggest problem for many bees is suitable nesting sites, particularly those that nest in cavities.”

Build the best bee nest:

One very simple way to provide more appropriate sites is to create a Bee Log.

8mm is the perfect size

• An old log is ideal or even a lump of firewood from your stack.
• It must be dry and seasoned to have washed the sap out.
• Using a 7 or 8mm wood bit simply make a series of random holes.
• Push the bit as deep as it will go, without going right the way through.
• Once finished, site the log off the ground so any rain water will drain away.

“It also needs to be somewhere South facing,” says Stuart Roberts.

“The bees need to warm up to be encouraged to fly in April or May.”