Leaf cutter bees

[Pip]

Well good

 

[Pip]

Remember when editor took away the gardening forum? What a wally

 

[strung out]

hang on a minute, do those bees actually cut bits of leaf off and fly around with them while holding on to them under their bellies?!

 

[Pip]

ER... YES! And then they make these wicked little sleeping bags for their larvae

Which even have a lovely lil lid on them

 

[strung out]

can you get em in pet shops?

they're about the best insect i've ever seen

 

[Pip]

No mate but I tell you where you can get em.










My fucking balcony

 

[strung out]

stealing your leaves? bastards.

 

[Pip]

Not bastards, because they can nibble every single last leaf on a plant without compromising its health at all. They're just getting theirs, doing their ting, flying about carrying leaves under their bellies for their babies. They're so great.

 

[strung out]

 

[gavman]

aren't they called mason bees?

when my friend span out he was drilling holes into everything so the bees could make homes
this went down well with the neighbours at 4am

 

[Pip]

EXCITING BEE UPDATE

Saw one of these today

 

[invisibleplanet]

What is it, Pip?

 

[strung out]

carpenter bee, obviously

 

[Pip]

 

[rollinder]

Well good

I'm in yr garden riding a leaf rocket bzz

 

[Mrs Magpie]

It gets better.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/gloucestershire/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8206000/8206853.stm

 

[Pip]

So glad you stuck that there and not amongst the charred remains of my facebook thread :-/

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I didn't realise your name was Brian.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Ssshhhhhh!

 

[zoooo]

But that bee's fucking massive!

 

[Pip]

That's why it's exciting news!

 

[zoooo]

Very exciting!

And also rather terrifying. But in the fun, screaming and running away way. Not the panic attack way.

 

[Pip]

Nah it was cool. I thought it was a butterfly when it first flew into my face.

 

[zoooo]

Crikey.

 

[Riklet]

The leaf bee look like it's flying on a magic carpet. Bee on a what now..?!

Those black bees are really cool, never known what they're called in English but they're called 'bourdon' in French, they've always seemed less dozy and less stingy than other bees.

On a bee related note, what's up with their 'life cycle' atm? I was sitting on the grass earlier and there were lots of big fat bumble bees rolling around or crawling slowly, looking a bit confused. They didn't seem like young sprog freshly born bees, maybe it's the weather change and they've got confused? As soon as I saw them I realised they were everywhere, but far too spaced out to bother me much...

 

[Mrs Magpie]

'bourdon'

That just means bumblebee. Same as knapweed, cornflowers and anything vaguely blue and raggedy is 'bluet'. They've got far less words for flora and fauna in general.

 

[quimcunx]

Saw a mahoossive flying beetle tonight. Are we being infested with foreign beasties or something? Me and this bloke had to walk round it. Flying so slowly you'd think it would fall to the ground.


MAHOOSSIVE!

 

[Pip]

May bug (aka cockchafer )? Stag beetle?

 

[quimcunx]

It didn't look very antlery from what I could see in the gloaming. Maybe a maybug from my google image foray. Are may bugs fucking MAHOOSSIVE?

 

[Pip]

Pretty big. They're brown. Stag beetles are black and the females haven't got antlers.