Busy bees

We have honeybees visiting the garden the last couple of days. They seem to like our poppies, though the flowers seems to confuse them a bit and they hover on the outside for a bit, before diving in!

Honeybee and poppy

Honeybee and poppy

Our native honeybee is Apis mellifera. There may no longer be any truly, wild honeybees left in Ireland. Those we see are either from domestic hives or feral populations of once domestic stock. Bees need all they help they can get. Check out my wild pollinator section for some ideas (https://murtaghsmeadow.wordpress.com/wildlife-gardening/wild-pollinators/).

Honeybee feeding on poppy

Honeybee feeding on poppy

This year, I have been trying to increase the amount of flowers in the garden, but vegetables and fruit trees provide important food sources too. At the moment the most popular plants in my garden, apart from the poppy for the honeybee, are runner beans, nasturtiums and comfrey for the bumblebees. For more information on Irish bees check out (http://pollinators.biodiversityireland.ie).

Poppies

Poppies

 

2 thoughts on “Busy bees

    1. Murtagh's Meadow Post author

      Thank you. I had fun watching the bees and taking the photos. The thundery, black clouds in the background really help make the photo more dramatic.

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      Reply

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