The Bee House

The bears have all been fascinated by the bees buzzing around in their garden now that Spring is here. Wherever the bears go, they can hear bees going about their busy lives. There are lots of different bees. Honey bees collect pollen from flowers, pollinating the plants as they go, then take the pollen back to their hives and turn it into honey. Mmmmm! Honey! Obviously one of the bears' favourite foods - they are bears after all!

Then there are the big fat bumble bees. They are very pretty with their colour combinations of yellow, orange, buff, black and white. And they look very fluffy too!

Then there are smaller bees called solitary bees. They don't live in a hive together like the honey bees, and they don't even make honey. But, like all the other bees, they do still pollinate plants so they are very important.

Bubbles wanted to know if he could help the honey bees make more honey - a really worthwhile cause the bears think! Different bees like different kinds of flowers so it would help if there were lots of different plants in the garden.

The bears already have a lovely plant which has big, frothy flowers that bees seem to love. It is called a buddleia. Some bees prefer short, open flowers like white clover - the bears have a lot of this in their garden - and it actually has a lovely scent too. Some bees like honeysuckle (there's a clue in the name!) or foxgloves or lavender. Some prefer flat-headed flowers like sunflowers.

The bears have planted lots of herbs in their garden, and they have a patch of garden full of wildflowers, and a border full of "cottage garden" plants like lupins, snapdragons and hollyhocks, all of which are constantly visited by bees. The garden is always buzzing!!

Bubbles was a little disappointed that the bears already had enough bee-friendly flowers in the garden so wondered what else he could do.

Then he thought of making a bee house for the solitary bees. First he found an old mug that nobody wanted any more. Then he gathered up some bamboo canes, cut into lengths the height of the mug, and found some drinking straws. He slotted the canes and the straws into the mug so that they fit snugly and tightly together and wouldn't fall out. Then he hung the mug by its handle from a hook on the garden fence, trying to make sure it was out of the wind, but still in a sunny position.

Solitary bees lay their eggs in the hollow stems, and then fill in the open ends to seal them in.

Eventually they will hatch and make their way out as new bees!! Brilliant! Though Bubbles may have to have a little bit of patience because it won't happen overnight. But he is going to check the bee house every day and see if any bees are going in and out, and if any of the ends are filled in.

Perhaps you could try either growing some bee-friendly flowers in your garden, or making your own bee house and see what happens! Let the bears know via the Feedback Form how you get on! And you can download a Bee Identification Sheet here so you can tell all the bees apart. Let's hope you see lots this year!