Busy bees and baby spiders

With all the worry about declining bees I was pleased to see so much bee activity in my garden. Decline of bees is a real concern, particularly because of the important role as insect pollinators of both flowers and commercial crops.

Honey bee

Buff-tailed bumble bee, with visible pollen baskets on its legs

Red tailed bumble bee (these flowers seem to be most popular at the moment. Its interesting to see how the bee activity and species changes as different flowers come into season).

Buff-tailed bumble bee in the yellow flags on the edge of the pond. The anthers are in the top flap of the flower which rubs along the bees back as it enters the flower.

This is the first time I have noticed so many bees visit the yellow flags, hopefully not a sign that there are fewer flowers to visit locally. This picture gives the impression that the bees were so busy they were queuing up for the flowers (of course this was not really the case).

A large colony of tiny spiders on our front gate, that had recently hatched nearby. It these first few days, when disturbed they form a tight ball. They are probably juvenile garden spiders.