Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Friday 9 August 2013

Bumblebee sex? The Echinops and Sunflower bed in daylight.


This is the flower bed I was talking about last night



 In daylight it is even more smothered in bumblebees and butterflies than at dusk.



I spend ages watching what is going on and find the variety of different bumblebees incredible and I always see something new.



After I watched the bees and the butterfly for a bit, I then saw a most unusual sight - I am not sure what was going on here, whether it was a pair of Bumblebees fighting, or mating.



but a very large bumblebee had a smaller bumblebee on its back and the smaller one on top did not want to get off! Another bee was hanging around them as well. Probably mating related I think.


The pair went round and round this flower head several times in a cinch, until eventually the smaller bee unclasped itself and flew off.


The larger bee stayed on the flower for a few more moments then flew off as well.

Fascinating :)

1 comment:

  1. This is a gorgeous bed! I really enjoy this style of gardening. Thanks for sharing your photos.

    ReplyDelete

Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compost Bin.

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