Spring – Anne Clark Handmade

Bees of the uk

As I write this blog at the end of March I have already seen a few bees in the garden. I have a fondness for bees of all varieties but struggle to identify many of them. This is not really surprising as there are over 270 bee species in Britain ranging from the well known honey bee, to bumblebees and solitary bees.

The largest species of bee in the UK is the Garden Bumblebee, it is a long-tongued bee which uses its long face and tongue to pollinate hard-to-reach tubed flowers such as foxgloves. There are also many species of short tongued bees in the UK? They have short pointed tongues and often nest in soils. These bees collect pollen on the underside of the abdomen and on their legs. This is the reason why it is a good to grow flowers of different shapes so that your garden can be a feeding ground for a variety of bees and pollinators.

Most bumblebees are social insects forming colonies with a single queen. The colonies are smaller than those of honey bees, growing to as few as 50 individuals in a nest. One of the species which nests in bird boxes and lofts is the Tree Bumblebee. With this species you may often see ‘swarms’ of bees flying around the nest, this is perfectly normal as these are male bees flying around waiting for queens to come out so that they can mate. Male bumblebees cannot sting, so there is no need to be alarmed.

I love the fact that male bumblebees often have a yellow moustache. It gives them a comical look but it can also be a useful way to tell a male bee from a worker of the same species.

A waving bumble bee is said to mean GO AWAY!

There are also species of Cuckoo Bumblebees. Just like the cuckoo bird they take over the nests of true bumblebees. A female cuckoo bee will go into the nest, kill the queen, and take it over for herself. A cuckoo bee does not produce any workers, just new females and males.

Most bees to be found in the UK are solitary bees and have some fabulous names such as The Patchwork Leaf-cutter Bee. The females cut discs out of leaves, gluing them together with saliva in order to build the ‘cells’ in which their larvae live. The patchwork leaf-cutter bee is on the wing from April to August, and feeds solely on pollen and nectar.

Another of my favourite bees is the Hairy-footed Flower Bee. The hairy-footed flower bee can be seen in spring and summer, visiting tubular flowers like red dead-nettle and comfrey. As its name suggests, it has long, orange hairs on its middle legs.

The Wool Carder Bee is a very distinctive bee with yellow spots down the sides of their abdomens. They are one of the few bee species in which the male is larger than the female. Females comb wool fibres from plants to use as nesting material, while males fiercely guard areas of these plants for potential mates. Male Wool carder bees may not have a sting but they do come equipped with a set of spikes on their tails. They will fiercely guard a patch of flowers and chase, head-butt and wrestle any other insect, which dares to enter their territory.

The Ashy Mining Bee is one of our most distinctive spring-flying solitary bees with striking black and grey/white markings. Female Ashy-mining bees excavate small tunnels in the earth to make their nests. They can occasionally be found nesting in large groups, but are also found in small groups or as single females. Males have similar markings to females, although they are smaller and not quite as noticeable. They have more obvious light hairs along the side of the thorax and also at the top of the abdomen.

When you hear a buzzing in the garden this year take a closer look as bees come in all sorts of shapes, colours and sizes. There are some good sites to look up bee identification.

www.friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/bee-identification-guide

www.bumblebeeconservation.org/bumblebee-species-guide

Bees are great indicators of a healthy environment. But right now, they’re at risk due to climate breakdown and habitat loss. Shifts in the seasons are disrupting flowering times and the availability of food, shelter and nesting sites. Climate change also brings extremes of drought, heavier rainfall and flooding.

We can all do our bit to help bees, this website is full of useful advice, www.thebeeconservancy.org/10-ways-to-save-the-bees/

Dandelions are Important

Like so many familiar wild plants, the dandelion has a rich traditional history. They are thought to have evolved about 30 million years ago, long before humans inhabited the earth. Dandelions used to be woven into spring wedding bouquets to bring good luck, and to dream of dandelions promised a happy relationship. I am writing this blog as earlier this week I dreamt of dandelions and I then discovered April 30th is now officially dedicated to the flower as International Day of the Dandelion.

Children love to blow the seeds of the dandelion clock and it was also used as an indicator of love by those still unmarried. The favourite was ‘he loves me, he loves me not’, a process that also applied to plucking daisy petals, dandelions are in the daisy family. Seeds floating away were thought to carry feelings of affection to the loved one.

The common name dandelion comes from the French dent de lion, meaning lion’s tooth and refers to the dentate leaf edges. The dandelion has many names among them bitterwort, blow-ball, telltime, cankerworth, witch’s gowan, milk witch, Irish daisy, monk’s head, priest’s crown, swine’s snout and white endive. The French themselves have adopted the plant’s traditional reputation as a herbal diuretic, calling it pissenlit – literally, wet-the-bed.

While dandelions are around for much of the year, late spring and early summer is when they are most visible. This year they seem exceptional and I have seen people post strange photos on social media where several have joined together, (both the heads and stems) to create giant flowers. The dandelion you see most often is Taraxacum officinale, the common dandelion, however there are more than 230 species of dandelion in the UK and the differences between them are small and very complex.

Dandelions are an early, easily available source of food for pollinators. Bumblebees, solitary bees and honeybees all visit dandelions, along with hoverflies, beetles, and butterflies such as the peacock and holly blue. Goldfinches and house sparrows eat the seeds.

Dandelions are good and useful for us as well. The leaves can be used to flavour salads, sandwiches and teas. The roots are used in some coffee substitutes, the flowers to make wines, dandelion jelly and honey. In the past, dandelion roots and leaves were used to treat liver problems. If you have allergies, you still need to check with your health care provider before consuming any dandelion product.

This year the Wildlife Trusts have called on people to make it a year of the dandelion spring, and I think the flowers themselves must have heard the news as the world seems to have turned yellow. They are so important for pollinators and wildlife. It is worth remembering we cannot survive without insects but if we were wiped out they would be fine, we need these beautiful wild flowers for our survival on earth.

A Rose by any Other Name …

Shakespeare had Juliette use the phase ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’, meaning that the names of things do not affect what they are. I am fascinated by the names of wild plants which vary in different parts of the country. All plants have scientific names but these, most people are unlikely to remember.

One of my favourite bushes is the Hawthorn which is also known as May, the month the flowers usually appear. There is an old saying, ‘Ne’er cast a clout till May be out’ and although some think this refers to the month of May I think it is more likely to mean the May flowers of the Hawthorn. There is often confusion between the Sloe Bush (Blackthorn) and Hawthorn. The flowers of the Blackthorn arrive before the leaves, whereas the flowers of the Hawthorn (May) open after the leaves.

Spring sees the arrival of the Cuckooflower, its upright stem bears delicate, small, pale pink or mauve flowers. Each flower has four petals, although double-flowered varieties can appear. The Cuckooflower gets its name because it appears around the same time as the cuckoo bird arrives. It is also known as Mayflower, Lady’s Smock and Milkmaids.

The Wild Carrot, (ancestor of cultivated carrots) also known as Queen Anne’s Lace, Bishops Flower and Birds Nest. Queen Anne was well versed in lace making and while sewing she pricked herself with a needle. A drop of blood fell unto her lace, leaving a single dark red/purple floret in the centre of the flower.

In the 18th century, English courtiers referred to this flower as “living lace.” According to this legend, the “living lace” name came from a contest that Queen Anne hosted for her ladies-in-waiting. She challenged them to produce a piece of lace as delicate and beautiful as the flower—but none could make lace to outshine the real thing.

The flower also referred to as “Bishop’s flower,” symbolises safety, sanctuary, and refuge. Another interpretation is due to the flower’s resemblance to a bird’s nest when it goes to seed—it then becomes the perfect symbol of the sanctuary of a happy home.

This year I have noticed an abundance of Cowslips. The cowslip has many folk names due to its historical importance and fame, including key of heaven, paigles, bunch of keys and herb Peter. Cowslip is actually a distorted pronunciation of ‘cow slop’, so named because the flowers are associated with cow pats in meadows and fields.

Similar to Wild Carrot is Cow Parsley with its tall stems and white lacy flowers. This plant is related to both wild carrot and parsley. The rather dismissive English name, Cow Parsley, simply means an inferior version of real parsley.

Spring Flowers along the Cromford canal.

I love to walk along the Cromford Canal whatever the weather. Here is a short video of one very wet day.

The canal is beautiful on any day but especially in the early Spring sunshine. April 14^th 2022 promised to be sunny so I decided to go for an early morning walk. By early I mean 8.30 which I know would not be everyones definition of early. It did however mean that there were not too many others, out walking the canal path. Deciding to start from Cromford was a really good idea as when I arrived at High Peak Junction, (the name now used to describe the site where the former Cromford and High Peak Railway, meets the Canal,) it was not too long before the small cafe opened for Coffee and a sandwich.

**Leewood Pumphouse near High Peak Junction.**

The canal used to run for 14.5 miles along the Derwent Valley to Ambergate where it turned to eventually join the Erewash Canal at Langley Mill. It was part of a network of canals dug in the midlands to transport goods such as coal, limestone, cotton and lead.

The 6 mile stretch from Cromford to Ambergate has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The area is home to diverse wildlife and a haven for water voles, grass snakes, little grebes, moorhens, coots, dragonflies as well as myriads of ducks, geese and swans.

Returning to Cromford along the canal I was excited to see three water voles but it is still probably rather early for grass snakes. There was how ever a good variety of wildflowers making their appearance and many bees buzzing around.