CompleteNovice
New Bee
Hello, everyone. As my username indicates, I know absolutely nothing about bees, but I need some advice, please.
Just after that spell of really hot weather we had in early September, I started noticing a load of small bees flying around our, well, I won't dignify it with the word lawn, but patch of grass in the front garden, just above grass height. Since they wouldn't stay still
, it was a bit difficult to tell for sure, but I think they had fairly russet-y "fur" (assuming that's what bees have). Our next-door neighbour doesn't have grass, and doesn't have them, but the neighbour two doors down has a lawn, and does. The numbers increased from an estimated 100 to 150-200, which on a patch of lawn of maybe 10 square metres is rather a lot! They seem to like our garden in particular in the morning once the sun has got onto the grass, and I think they may move down the road later in the day when the other garden is sunnier, as we seem to have fewer of them in the afternoon.
They're usually pretty innocuous, but in recent days they've started getting a bit more active, occasionally flying around at window height and bumping into the windows, so we have to keep them shut, which is a bit annoying. I also suspect they've got a bit bigger. And in the last couple of days we've definitely noticed soft patches of dug-up earth in the grass and flowerbeds, rather like when you have an ants' nest underneath, but with added tunnels. I guess this is why they call them mining bees!
We've only recently moved in here, so have no idea about past history, and whether they've only appeared this summer or are well established. Are these youngsters which have recently emerged? Their behaviour seems to suggest that they might be, even if the timing seems odd to this amateur. Did the hot weather provoke something, in the way that flying ants suddenly decide to swarm? So, my question is really what can we expect over the coming weeks and months? Are they going to stay around? Do they hibernate, die off over the winter, or what? What on earth is happening underneath the front lawn?(!) We had been thinking of putting a flowerbed in the middle of the grass patch, but will we be disturbing them if we do and/or would there be an optimum time of year to do it? I understand the other neighbour who has them is planning to replace his front garden with hard standing for a car, which would obviously be very disruptive.
I'd welcome your thoughts on the matter.
Just after that spell of really hot weather we had in early September, I started noticing a load of small bees flying around our, well, I won't dignify it with the word lawn, but patch of grass in the front garden, just above grass height. Since they wouldn't stay still
, it was a bit difficult to tell for sure, but I think they had fairly russet-y "fur" (assuming that's what bees have). Our next-door neighbour doesn't have grass, and doesn't have them, but the neighbour two doors down has a lawn, and does. The numbers increased from an estimated 100 to 150-200, which on a patch of lawn of maybe 10 square metres is rather a lot! They seem to like our garden in particular in the morning once the sun has got onto the grass, and I think they may move down the road later in the day when the other garden is sunnier, as we seem to have fewer of them in the afternoon.They're usually pretty innocuous, but in recent days they've started getting a bit more active, occasionally flying around at window height and bumping into the windows, so we have to keep them shut, which is a bit annoying. I also suspect they've got a bit bigger. And in the last couple of days we've definitely noticed soft patches of dug-up earth in the grass and flowerbeds, rather like when you have an ants' nest underneath, but with added tunnels. I guess this is why they call them mining bees!
We've only recently moved in here, so have no idea about past history, and whether they've only appeared this summer or are well established. Are these youngsters which have recently emerged? Their behaviour seems to suggest that they might be, even if the timing seems odd to this amateur. Did the hot weather provoke something, in the way that flying ants suddenly decide to swarm? So, my question is really what can we expect over the coming weeks and months? Are they going to stay around? Do they hibernate, die off over the winter, or what? What on earth is happening underneath the front lawn?(!) We had been thinking of putting a flowerbed in the middle of the grass patch, but will we be disturbing them if we do and/or would there be an optimum time of year to do it? I understand the other neighbour who has them is planning to replace his front garden with hard standing for a car, which would obviously be very disruptive.
I'd welcome your thoughts on the matter.
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