First Aid for Bees

Twice in the past week I've had to administer first-aid to bees! No I'm not joking. Luckily I had just been reading about this in last week's issue of Garden News. At this time of year in particular, with the onset of Autumn, bees are prone to exhaustion. It's not surprising as, in one day, they visit more than 5000 flowers to gather precious nectar, while pollinating the flower at the same time. As Summer is drawing to a close, the number of flowers are dwindling and bees are having to work extra hard to source food.

Why are bees so important?

* They pollinate a substantial percentage of the fruit and vegetables that we eat and feed to our livestock.

* They pollinate plants that we get our clothes from, e.g. cotton.

* They pollinate plants that line rivers and streams that control erosion.

* They pollinate many plants world-wide, plants that form forests, grasslands and jungles that provide habitat for animals everywhere.


So please, if you come across a bee lying, apparently lifeless, on the ground and you have sugar and water to hand, here is what you do:

Mix two tablespoons of sugar with one tablespoon of water. Put it in a shallow container and place it near your exhausted bee or transfer the bee (on a trowel or similar suitable object) to a plant and pour some of the sugar mixture on the plant next to it. The glucose mixture will provide a lifesaving fix and, when it has recovered, the bee will fly off on its way to continue its valuable work.

On both occasions, I was happy to witness 'my' bees recover after about an hour.

Here's a list of just some of the plants that bees pollinate:

Okra; Kiwi fruit; Onion; Cashew; Celery; Pawpaw; Starfruit; Brazil nut; Beet; Mustard; Rapeseed; Broccoli; Cauliflower; Cabbage; Brussel Sprouts; Turnip; Red & Green Pepper; Papaya; Safflower; Caraway; Chestnut; Watermelon; Tangerine; Coconut; Coriander; Hazlenut; Cantaloupe melon; Cucumber; Pumpkin, Marrow; Quince, Carrot, Buckwheat; Fig; Fennel; Strawberry; Soybean; Cotton; Sunflower; Walnut; Flax; Lychee; Apple; Mango; Alfalfa; Passion fruit; Avocado; Lima Bean; Kidney Bean; Runner Bean; Apricot; Cherry; Plum; Sloe; Almond; Peach; Nectarine; Pomegranate; Pear; Blackcurrant & Redcurrant; Rosehips; Raspberry; Elderberry; Sesame; Eggplant; Cocoa; Clover; Blueberry; Cranberry; Broadbean & Grape.

This list is by no means complete and contains crop plants only...... then there are all the wildflowers and garden flowers that our bees pollinate also. Working from dawn to dusk all Summer long, they deserve our utmost respect.

Whitworth Hall Revisited ~ County Durham, U.K.

It's nearing the end of the childrens' Easter school holidays and here we are at Whitworth Hall again..... at least we were earlier today; it's just after 11.30p.m. now. I love this place and it doesn't matter how many times we visit, I still get an overwhelming sense of the uplifting beauty here. Strolling round as slowly as I can, I think to myself, "This is what Heaven must be like right here on Earth."

Apple trees in the orchard

Grape vines which will start into the new season's growth soon

This is a 'folly' that was built out on the lake. The materials were taken from part of the older church that stood in the grounds (a more recent one was built in its place). The folly is lit up in the evenings.

I couldn't resist taking this close-up of a Rhododendron flower while walking in the woodland gardens

.......... and here is the woodland walk. You can see the church in the background. This is the church where family members of Whitworth Hall attended.

The church and its grounds deserve a post of its own. There are beautiful old gravestones and vaults covered in lichens and mosses and wildflowers growing amongst the grass. The grounds of the church aren't neglected and overgrown though, but well-managed with wildlife in mind, as are the woodland gardens.

In the walled garden, where the orchard is, the bees were buzzing round clumps of Pulmonaria (Lungwort). The gardeners knew what they were doing when they planted it there, attracting all those bees which will, in turn, pollinate the fruit trees. Sometimes a bee will linger in a particular flower and you can easily get a good close-up photograph but they were flitting in and out of the pulmonaria flowers in the blink of an eye and it wasn't to be. Forgive the pun! It was amusing to see them with their backs brushed with grains of pollen. I like bees. :)