Bee Heaven

I know that there is much in the news about the decline of the bee, but nobody seems to have mentioned this to our local bees. I'm sitting in my study looking out over the red roof of the scullery, which is draped with a climbing plant that is in flower at the moment. The flowers are small and greenish, I don't even know what the plant is, though the leaves are rather lovely heart shapes, but the bees love it. There is a constant swirl of these wonderful creatures from flower to flower, flying, resting and flying again. It's wonderful to watch.

We have a little raised corner bed in our tiny garden; at the front there is a tube, obviously set in by the builder to allow water to drain out of the bed before it soaked the feet of the plants set into it. Often, I see bees coming and going through the spout - I suspect that they live there and over-winter as the wall is thick stone and the bed deep enough to keep them warm and safe.

In my old garden in north Cambridgeshire, I used to have rows of lavender plants - it was a large garden and the lavender lined the driveway. All through the summer months the lavender bushes would wilt under the weight of bees and the garden would always have that lovely soft, droning hum that you get when there are a lot of happy bees. I often kick myself these days for not having learned apiary and set up a hive, as it would have done well in that area, and I would have gained experience as a bee-keeper. Now, when I have the time and inclination to do it, our garden is so small and the surrounding area so pastoral, that it wouldn't be practical, as I know bees need a two mile radius of decent foraging to make a hive work. I shall have to wait until we get our farm.

It's really important for gardeners to remember to leave safe places for bees and bumble bees to spend the winter months. Many places sell bee nesting cylinders but it is easy to use bamboo canes and hollow tubing to make your own. It's also important to remember that bumble bees will burrow into larger plant pots (with thick sides to insulate themselves) and spend the winter hidden away amongst the roots of your plants - so be careful when you clear pots or tidy them up, to make sure that you don't hurt hibernating bumbles or take away potential safe havens from them. It's also easy to make tube havens for bumble bees and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust give instructions on how to make your own simple one. A great variation is to put nesting material in the foot of an old wellington and bury the leg and most of the foot (for warmth) in the ground, insert a tube so the bees can get in and what better way to recyle old wellies and give bees a home?

We has wonderful mead at our Handfasting - we wouldn't have had that without bees and life on this planet would suffer terribly without the huge contribution bees make, so look out for them and give them a helping hand please.