Sue Morton writes: Keen followers of the blogs on our website may remember that last year I had large numbers of common furrow bees spending the night on ribwort plantains in my uncut lawn. The conclusion was that they were probably males roosting communally. I was very pleased to see that they have returned this year, not only to the same plant species but to an almost identical place in the lawn.
The amazing thing is that this year’s bees wouldn’t have been the same ones as the ones that visited last year, as they are a different generation. What is it about the seedheads in that particular part of the lawn? Why did they come back to that area? One reason why they chose that particular seedhead this year could be that it was comparatively sheltered, being low down in the (very long) grass – quite important with the cool and windy weather that we’ve had lately. One particularly wet evening I arrived home to find that the bees had spread out over several seedheads, choosing ones that were drooping over, and clustering on the underside, out of the rain. Maybe I will mark the bees’ favourite spot with a stick this year, to see if they really do return to the same spot next year. You can read last year’s blogs here and here.
Sue Morton, 7 July 2024
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