Homeowners looking for garden advice to attract bees to their outside spaces have been offered some sage wisdom from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
The humble bee is one of nature's finest pollinators and attracting these useful creatures to the garden can therefore be a great way to not only see more wildlife, but also help ensure plants and flowers continue to bloom for years to come.
Adrian Thomas of the RSPB noted in his latest blog post for the organisation that the best way to attract more of these helpful insects to the garden is to plant a range of plants that will give a sequence of flowers throughout the year.
Some of the best examples of bee-friendly flowers include those in the geranium family, dead-nettles – such as woundworts, thymes and claries – as well as heathers, borages – forgetmenots, alkanet and comfreys – and peas including vetches, clovers and lupins.
A handy piece of advice is to plant in large bunches, as bees prefer "banquets rather than nibbles", Mr Thomas added, while ensuring these flowerbeds are sheltered, warm and sunny will also help.
Each species of bee has slightly different needs and therefore using garden equipment to install a myriad offering for these helpful insects will pay dividends for gardeners keen to see more of these critters over the coming months.
Meanwhile, the Scotsman has reported that the humble slug could be set to thrive this year as a result of the warm, wet summer that has now taken hold across the UK.
Dr Richard Meredith of Bayer Crop Science told the publication that populations of these garden gastropods could double, if not triple, in 2012.
"They like the rain and now we've had months of it the slugs are thriving. If it carries on the way it is, we can expect to have a serious challenge with protecting crops," he commented.
