Caring for bees and bumbles – plan NOW for winter

Whether they’re honey bees or bumbles, they’re much on our mind over the summer months when we see and hear them in our gardens. We plant for them, put out water for them – and often pluck them from spiders’ webs. But bees don’t disappear when summer is over; in fact, come autumn, life gets tough for them, and by the time winter comes around, they can really do with a helping hand to see them through the coldest months of the year and into early spring.

How to help

Umbrella-flowers

Late summer and autumn can bring some of the driest months of year – even drought conditions. With little moisture about, flowers can become scarce, and those that do show a burst of colour contain far less nectar than they did. This means honey bees and bumbles have to travel further and work harder to bring home the goods. Fortunately, autumn is the time when many herbs and vegetables run to seed, sending up flowering stems stopped with pretty umbrella-like blooms. These are the very flowers that bees and bumbles adore. By letting the herbs and vegetables in your garden (especially the likes of fennel, dill, onion, carrot and parsnip) bloom rather than pulling them out and composting them, you’re helping not only the buzzies, but a whole range of beneficial pollinating insects.

Resist the urge to tidy

While honey bees have a permanent home in the form of a hive, bumbles have to search out their own abodes. This is never a more pressing task than in autumn when the days begin to chill and young queen bumbles leave home to search for a winter hibernation spot. The very nesting sites they look for are the same pile of dying twigs and branches we plan to take to pile on the trailer and take to the green waste before winter. If you want bumbles around in early spring when your fruit trees and broadbeans are in blossom and require pollinating, invite them into your garden now by leaving small (carton-sized) piles of dried plant material in spots where they won’t catch your eye and make you wince. Alternatively (or as well!) make or order in a bumble bee nest and set it on the ground close to flowers. Line with washed raw sheep’s wool and fine twigs (or an old birds’ nest) and it may soon become the winter home of a bumblebee.

Late-winter and early-spring nectar

In the coldest regions, honey bees stay tucked up tight in their hives until spring. In warmer regions, however, bees will venture out even on a winter’s day if the sun is strong. In early spring both honey bees and bumbles emerge with one thought in mind: to find nectar. Few flowers arrive earlier that those of tagasaste (the tree lucerne). Easy to grow (treat them almost as a weed) they come in both pretty yellow- and pale cream-flowering varieties – and bees and bumbles love them! These trees are easily grown from seed or can be purchased inexpensively in root trainers from nurseries supplying farms. Plant them as a hedge or as stand-alone specimens which can later be harvested for firewood.

Skip the insecticide

Autumn is often the time we notice spider webs more than ever (and spiders venturing inside to find warmth). It’s also the time of year when the spider-proofing companies phone uninvited to ask if you would like your home sprayed. Spider spray is a contact-toxin to insects. That means that when a honey bee or bumble comes into contact with it (as is often the case) they will be affected or killed. Be kind to honey bees and bumbles by investing in a stiff-bristled broom instead of a dose of spray for the house. A quick flick with the broom is all it takes to remove the cobwebs – and the bees remain unharmed.