| Bees and wasps
      Top l to r: honey bee, common carder bee; bottom l to r: common wasp, white-tailed bumble bee© Top (both images): Roger Key/English Nature; bottom l to r: Bob Gibbons, Roger Key/English NatureMany bees and wasps live socially, in elaborate nests which are complex marvels of engineering. Bees gather pollen (sometimes weighing half as much as they do themselves!) in 'baskets' on their body and nectar which is regurgitated when the insect returns to the hive. Like bees, female wasps possess a sting but in the case of wasps this is used to kill prey, often consisting of aphids, flies or caterpillars, some of which may do damage in the garden. Badgers, protected by their tough skin and thick coat, will dig out the nests of wasps to get at the grubs and those of bees to reach the honey. However, few other predators will tackle these insects and other animals such as hoverflies have therefore evolved to mimic their colouring because of the protection this gives them from potential enemies. Wasp nests also offer a home to some hoverfly larvae, which in turn destroy aphids. Wasp nests are never used twice. Some solitary bees and wasps can be encouraged to nest in hollow canes, hogweed stems, ventilation bricks or even drinking straws! PlantsAlder buckthorn, Autumn hawkbit, Autumn squill, Barberry, Barberry, Basil thyme, Bastard balm, Bergamot, Betony, Bilberry, Bird's-eye primrose, Biting stonecrop, Black-eyed Susan, Bluebell, Bogbean, Bramble, Broad-leaved everlasting-pea, Bush vetch, Butterbur, Californian lilac, Californian poppy, Candelabra primula, Caryopteris, Catmint, Catmint, Changing forget-me-not, Cherry laurel, Chicory, Chives, Clarkia, Clustered clover, Common alder, Common butterwort, Common calamint, Common centaury, Common cow-wheat, Common meadow-rue, Common poppy, Common rock-rose, Common sea-lavender, Common stork's-bill, Common vetch, Coneflower, Corn marigold, Corn mint, Cosmos, Cotton thistle, Crab apple, Creeping cinquefoil, Cypress spurge, Daisy, Daphne, Dark mullein, Dill, Dwarf morning glory, Early forget-me-not, English stonecrop, Eyebright, Feverfew, Fragrant agrimony, Germander speedwell, Giant scabious, Goat's rue, Great burnet, Great mullein, Great willowherb, Greater burdock, Greater celandine, Greater knapweed, Green hellebore, Heath dog-violet, Hedgerow crane's-bill, Heliotrope, Hemp-agrimony, Hoary mullein, Hoary plantain, Hoary stock, Horseshoe vetch, Irish fleabane, Jacob's-ladder, Japanese quince, Kidney vetch, Laurustinus, Lesser burdock, Lesser calamint, Lesser stitchwort, Lesser water-plantain, Lungwort, Marsh cinquefoil, Marsh-marigold, Marsh woundwort, Meadow buttercup, Meadow saffron, Meadow vetchling, Mezereon, Moschatel, Mountain avens, New Zealand holly, Pale flax, Pale toadflax, Pasqueflower, Pennyroyal, Perennial flax, Perforate St John's-wort, Portugal laurel, Purple gromwell, Purple saxifrage, Purple toadflax, Ramsons, Red bartsia, Red-hot poker, Red valerian, Rock stonecrop, Rosemary, Roseroot, Salad burnet, Sand crocus, Saw-wort, Scented mayweed, Sea-holly, Selfheal, Shasta daisy, Shirley poppy, Skullcap, Smooth cat's-ear, Spignel, Spiked speedwell, Spindle, Spring snowflake, Spring squill, Stinking hellebore, Strawberry clover, Sulphur clover, Summer snowflake, Sweet William, Thrift, Tobacco plant, Tormentil, Traveller's-joy, Wall germander, Water avens, Wayfaring tree, Welsh poppy, Wild candytuft, Wood avens, Wood sage, Wormwood, Yarrow, Yarrow, Yellow archangel, Yellow iris, Yellow knapweed, Yellow loosestrife, Yellow star-of-Bethlehem PreyBugs, Common green grasshopper, Field grasshopper, Meadow grasshopper PredatorsBee fly, Common wasp, Dolichovespula media, Garden orb-web spider, Hornet, Lesser spotted woodpecker, Misumena vatia, Pied flycatcher, Red ant, Spotted flycatcher, Yellowhammer Bees and waspsBuff-tailed bumble bee, Common carder bumble bee, Common wasp, Dolichovespula media, Honey bee, Hornet, Mournful wasp, Ophion luteus, Red mason bee, Red-tailed bumble bee, Rubytail wasp, White-tailed bumble bee, Wool-carder bee |
