I was wandering round our wild garden this afternoon, hoping that the sun might have enticed a Brimstone or Red Admiral. As it happens, I saw just one butterfly, a Small White. My gaze, however, was distracted by a little drama of the arachnid kind. As the bee alighted on the insect house, quick as a flash two long dark legs appeared as if from nowhere, followed by the spider you see in the image. I wish the quality of the picture was better, but at least I caught something on camera.
Spiders have to eat, of course, but I found myself on the side of the bee, hoping it had survived its unexpected ordeal.
The second photo shows how (presumably) bees have been at work, sealing up the holes. Last Christmas, I was given a copy of Simon Armitage's book, Dwell, inspired by the Lost Gardens of Heligan. I absolutely love the poem about the bug hotel!
It was a joy to see a bee, several in fact, scouting out our hanging bee house:
The bee in the next photo preferred a warm spot in the sun on the hotel roof ...
The insect houses are close to a white flowering Cherry. In previous years, Leaf-cutter bees have sliced their circles from the Cherry tree leaves. The blossom has been wonderful, but the leaves are still pretty small ...
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The photos below were taken in our garden back in 2020.
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| Bee caught in the act |
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| The disc of leaf has almost been removed |
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| Arriving with the rolled disc of leaf for nest-cells |
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