A Buff Tail Bumble Bee Bombus terrestris (probably a Queen) in my  flowering Cherry

Like most of you probably, I have spent a huge amount of time outside this weekend. Our garden is currently a work in progress and under going radical changes. I have spoken before about the three areas we have split the space into, known as Chicken World, Rose World and Woodland World.

We have spent much of our efforts the past few weeks on Rose World and Woodland World, and the two for now are interconnected as we are salvaging ancient paving stones, and Victorian stable pavers from one to reuse in the other for the footpaths.  The patio that had been next to the Cherry was some 12 foot square. and a blissfully cool, shaded area on a hot summer's day as it was on the cool moist soiled north side of the garden and in pretty much full shade.

I decided that this great expanse of stone and brick was to hard on the eyes, and a bench placed on the lawn in this area would serve as well as the huge hard standing that was seldom used in earnest. I saw a huge planting opportunity!  So between moving and planting/replanting countless roses,  digging up patios, the foundations to the old Vinery, and an old Lathe Shop, we have been hard at it for weeks, trying to get the garden in order for the Summer.

Things are taking shape - the patio is a thing of history, as are the foundation walls for the old buildings that had been buried for 25 years since they were demolished - we thought the builders had removed them, but we discovered them 6 inches under the top soil.  The bricks from these subterranean walls are rather attractive too, Victorian handmade jobs, probably made from Hampshire clay nearby - so these will get recycled as paving too in Chicken World. They have survived a 150 years in the soil, so I am sure they can survive another 50 above ground!

A Honey Bee Apies Mellifera one of a couple of hundred in my Cherry Tree 

Anyway, back to today.  I have hundred and I mean hundred of pots in various stages of cultivation, littering what will be Woodland World. Dozens of Helleborus and cuttings from Penstemons and Phlox, and countless bulbs that we have dug up, and I have saved in pots to replant.  If anyone didn't know, you would have thought I was running a nursery, albeit a very scruffy one!  

Many of the pots are overgrown with Moss and Water Avens. Herb Robert and Chickweed was sprouting everywhere. The Vinca minor had invade many of the pots and literally joined them together, and I had spied the dreaded Ground Elder making an appearance too.

I sat on the little rocking bench under the Cherry Tree, and spent most of yesterday and today, cleaning the plants up, de-weeding them, topping up the soil levels, and where I could, planting them in the newly reclaimed ground.  The fragrance of the Daphne wafted over me and as I got closer to the soil and lost myself in what I was doing, I became acutely aware of the buzzing of bees. Not one bee, but hundreds.

Way above my head the tree was alive with honey bees, foraging for pollen and nectar. I sat and watched and listen for a long time, their rhythmic sound like a drum beat you might use when meditating. I couldn't get over just how many bees there were working away in the tree some 10 foot above my head.  The Bumble bee above is a Buff Tail. I suspect she is a Queen, recently emerged from her subterranean hibernation, and now busy building her nest and building her reserves for the coming year.  I wished the honey bees were my bees, but I suspect they belong to Caroline who has a soft fruit PYO farm just along the Lane from where we live and has a few hives too. I know that Honey Bee colonies are coming back into activity now too. I have witnessed my own buzzing with activity as the new seasons bees orientate themselves around the front of their hive, so that they can remember their home when they return from their virgin foraging flights. It never ceases to amaze me that a bee can fly several square miles in any direction, but know exactly how to find the tiny entrance to their own hive.  There I days when I struggle to find where I parked the car! Oh how I wish for the bees sense of direction!

I was desperate to get some photographs, and having failed dismally with my usual favourite lens or a macro lens to get any images that weren't blurry because of the light breeze, I resorted to using a telephoto lens to take pictures of the bees much higher up the tree. Oddly,  it worked as you can see above!

I hope you have had an equally enjoyable weekend.