After two weeks of holidays we were happy to see the garden again but it was at a slow, measured pace we gave the garden its customary “so good to see you” check over. We have returned with a ‘flu the like of which we have not suffered from in many a year.
Even the dandelion clocks in the grass look good.
There is more red dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) than grass but that suits the Anthophora and bumble bees. The Anthophora fly very quickly but look very similar to fluffy grey bumble bees – only there are no grey bumble bees (in France, anyway).
The Hyacinths where we sit at the front of the house smell delicious, overcoming our poor sense of smell at the moment and kindling the hope that soon all will return to normal.
We have missed the main pollen fest from the big willow (Salix caprea) at the bottom of the garden.
All kinds of bees are still visiting the tree.
There seems to be plenty to satisfy the needs of all comers.
The Hellebores have done well this year and are constantly visited by the bees.
In the vegetable garden the broad beans are doing well and are very attractive to all sorts of solitary bees.
I wish I could have stayed looking longer as I saw these two almost immediately.
Certainly the wild bees are wherever you look.
Our apricot trees are flowering and I am sure will be well pollinated but whether the weather will allow us to have apricots this year remains to be seen. Temperatures of 21 degrees yesterday and 23 degrees today are warm for this time of year and we can have frosts up until May.
But the one thing that lifted our spirits was to find “our” Barbastelle bat was waiting for us on our return. He had taken up his usual position behind our living room shutters. He is only little, I would estimate about six centimetres from the back of his body to the tip of his head. He has been visiting us annually for about four years now and we look forward to his visits, see “Many Happy Returns” for last year’s visit.
I find him very attractive and he does not seem to mind me taking photographs although I try to be as rapid as possible as it does disturb his beauty sleep.
March 11, 2017 at 8:24 pm
Very nice, especially the Barbastelle.
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March 12, 2017 at 7:45 am
Thank you. Amelia
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March 11, 2017 at 8:44 pm
Spring is definitely underway for you. My potager is still looking bleak.
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March 13, 2017 at 8:34 am
It only takes a few good days, things will be moving soon. Amelia
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March 11, 2017 at 9:52 pm
Things look lovely. How exciting to have a bat!
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March 11, 2017 at 10:14 pm
Great photos. The bat is magnificent !🦇
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March 12, 2017 at 3:56 am
Agreed!
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March 12, 2017 at 7:47 am
He is still here this morning, we check on him every morning during his visit. Amelia
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March 11, 2017 at 10:26 pm
I hope the flu won’t be too severe. Nice to see all the flowers!
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March 12, 2017 at 7:49 am
Thanks, it is on the run now but it was one that floored us completely. Amelia
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March 11, 2017 at 11:25 pm
Love to see your bat
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March 12, 2017 at 7:50 am
So do we – a bat with charisma? Amelia
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March 11, 2017 at 11:27 pm
Thanks for the garden report. Glad to see the bees are humming. Please get well!
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March 12, 2017 at 7:51 am
Thank you, we are on the winning length now but it has been a grim one. Amelia
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March 12, 2017 at 3:56 am
Lovely to see flowers like hyacinth…. and bees 😊
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March 12, 2017 at 7:54 am
The hyacinth mostly started life inside and were given a second chance outside. They seem to go forth and multiply outside here and so over the years we have developed quite a patch. It creates a very perfumed sitting area and attracts all the pollinators. Amelia
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March 12, 2017 at 9:31 am
That sounds lovely. I have developed a new piece of ground for planting and am now turning to what I might put in it (next to the kitchen door. Perfumed hyacinths could be one such, especially as it is a sheltered, sunny spot.
I can imagine your hyacinth would multiply. I have Spanish bluebells, whose procreational capacity is beyond belief 😉.
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March 12, 2017 at 8:16 am
Hope you are feeling better soon. It’s amazing to realize how tiny your bat visitor is.
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March 12, 2017 at 2:40 pm
Thank you. It makes it all the more amazing that he makes it back to us each year when he is so small. Amelia
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March 13, 2017 at 2:13 am
🙂 🙂
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March 12, 2017 at 8:50 am
You seem to be well ahead of us, no blossom much here and we only saw the first insects in the last couple of days. Hope you are better soon, we returned from the UK in January with terrible flu so you have our sympathies, Diane
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March 12, 2017 at 2:42 pm
Thank you for your sympathies, we can soak it up at the moment as we are still feeling very sorry for ourselves 🙂 Amelia
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March 12, 2017 at 9:11 am
A wonderful walk around your garden, loving all the bees and especially your bat. My apricot has just started to flower so I’m hoping that we don’t have anymore frosts, the fleece is ready… Sue
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March 12, 2017 at 2:44 pm
With temperatures fluctuating I have a feeling we’ll all be needing fleece or newspaper to protect the plants before summer arrives. Amelia
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March 12, 2017 at 10:17 am
Lovely to see your garden alive with insects. What a cute bat. I hope you feel better soon.
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March 12, 2017 at 2:45 pm
Thank you, I’m getting tired of feeling low now. The bat cheers us up though. Amelia
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March 12, 2017 at 11:05 am
So wonderful to see all those blooms and bees. Your little bat visitor is so beautiful, too. Hope you’re back in good health soon to be out enjoying spring!
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March 12, 2017 at 2:47 pm
Thank you I must be able to get on top of this soon. It is not difficult to get tempted out with the bees and the flowers at this time of year. Amelia
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March 12, 2017 at 12:04 pm
Lovely to see the flowers, I can almost smell the hyacinth (we can’t grow them in Egypt, to my knowledge) and the spring blossom. Enjoy the beautiful garden, nature, and the many visitors to the flowers, and hope you recover soon!
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March 12, 2017 at 2:49 pm
Thank you, I think the spring must be my favourite time of year. Amelia
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March 12, 2017 at 6:41 pm
Your bat is so sweet! I haven’t seen any signs if ours yet. You are a lot further on than us in fact, with blossom already. Hope it stays mild so you get lots of apricots. Do you make jam? Get well wishes to you both!
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March 13, 2017 at 8:42 am
Thank you. We don’t get apricots every year because of frosts but when we do get them they are excellent eating apricots and I prefer to hand them out to friends rather than make them into jam. I find we have too much fruit for jam for the two of us. My complaint about storing fruit is that you have to use sugar. We are too humid here to dry it and I don’t find drying in the oven either cost or environmentally friendly. Good excuse to gorge on fruit in the summer, though :). Amelia
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March 12, 2017 at 6:58 pm
I had the flu in October and it was the worst I’ve ever suffered in all my life, I hope you feel better soon, don’t over do things, take care of yourselves.
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March 13, 2017 at 8:44 am
Thanks for the sympathy, when you have not had it for years you forget what it can be like. We are taking it easy :). Amelia
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March 12, 2017 at 6:58 pm
If you haven’t already done so you must start on lemon and your honey drink to help fight the flue.
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March 13, 2017 at 7:36 am
Our friend Michel quickly put us on his own Propomiel. He makes this with his own bees’ propolis and honey. We have been taking a small spoonful three times a day. Propolis is reputed to have many antimicrobial and medicinal properties.
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March 13, 2017 at 10:39 am
I forgot to mention propolis, I buy them from a herbalist. How good to have some locally made.
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March 14, 2017 at 8:25 am
Kourosh does keep what we recover from our own bees but we have never taken the next step to transform it into a usable commodity. It is very difficult to dissolve and so almost impossible to remove from bee suits, gloves etc.
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March 13, 2017 at 11:08 am
Hope you both feel better soon. Lovely to see all the wildlife in your garden, do you think the first solitary bee might be A. flavipes?
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March 14, 2017 at 8:22 am
I’ve got the wing pattern on a different photograph that agrees with Andrena and from his form and spring appearance, I would agree with A. flavipes male as the most likely ID. There could be other similar species here so that is as far as we can go. Are you going to try and refine your solitary bee knowledge? I have books but I have never had the opportunity to go on a course and talk to real people. Amelia
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March 14, 2017 at 8:42 am
The A.flavipes here came out a few days ago and your picture looks very like the Totnes A. flavipes males but I realise that in France there may be other species to take into account. Steven Falk is doing a course near here in July and I have booked to go on it to expand my knowledge, should be interesting, I will report back in the summer.
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March 14, 2017 at 9:58 am
Oh, I am so jealous! I would love to know what advice he has for amateurs and if the only way forward is capturing them and preserving and comparing. Please keep me updated.
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March 15, 2017 at 12:06 am
Such beautiful photos! Nice to see the garden waking up!
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March 15, 2017 at 7:25 pm
We are having an exceptionally warm spell at the moment with air temperatures of over 20 degrees centigrade and sunshine. You can practically hear the plants growing! Amelia
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March 15, 2017 at 10:34 pm
Your barbastelle bat is too cute! I hope you both feel better soon and feel warmed by the garden coming to life again 🙂
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March 17, 2017 at 5:24 pm
We have been so lucky with the weather and garden for convalescing. It is teaching me to sit and stare. I usually don’t manage long before I’m attacking a hapless weed, but at the moment I just sit and admire them. Amelia
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March 17, 2017 at 11:04 pm
Fab Bat!
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March 18, 2017 at 7:04 am
A very special bat. Amelia
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