Gardener's Little Friends

I know lots of people who either hate or fear bugs. No matter what kind of a creature it is, if it has 6 or 8 legs, it must be evil. Anyone who loves gardening has to disagree at least to some degree. If you intend to grow anything edible, you will need some help of honey bees and bumblebees to have some kind of a result.

Bumblebees are big and furry and quite tranquil. There's no need to fear one unless you sit on it and it is forced to defend itself. Bumblebees collect pollen and are good pollinators as their body hair protects them from cold. This enables them to fly in much colder weather than honey bees, and they are among the first insects to fly early in the spring. If you ever encounter them, just admire their work and leave them in peace. No killing here, please!

Bumblebees are threatened by loss of suitable habitats for nesting and for feeding grounds. Willow pollen is the earliest kind of food available for these insects and they need some meadows and other uninhabited places to build a nest, often under the ground. The queen bumblebee starts a nest from zero early in the spring. There are bumblebee nests with a queen and pollen commercially available too, in case you are looking for them to pollinate your garden. In a colder climate (like here where I live) it's often very cold early in the summer when apple trees are in bloom, so bumblebees are my best friends at that time of the year.

A gardener may not be very appreciative towards the cute animals like the deer and the hare. They look so sweet and harmless but eat all the loveliest plants from your garden. Actually they eat any plant at all, lovely or not. Like this sea buckthorn below. Or my apple and plum trees. I would say I hate bunnies, but they're just too cute to be hated. I only wish they had never found their way into my garden.

In summer there are lots of beautiful creatures after the sweet nectar of the flowers. Like this butterfly.

Then there are some that you need to treat with respect unless you're looking for a nasty sting. Wasps aren't necessarily harmful if you just leave them to take care of their own business. They won't mind you if they get used to you being around. They make a grey papery nest in any protected place, like in between the walls or in the garage or under the roof. It might be a good idea to get rid of them, if the nest is in the "wrong" place. 

These insects are carnivores, and they will attack any suitable prey. They are also after sweet treats, so beware if you are having an outdoor gathering with cake, juice or anything sugary at all. When fruits are ready to be picked, you will probably be picking them with wasps that have come to eat the sweet cherries, prunes and apples too. They can also be found in places where meat is cut. They actually come to bite pieces of meat out of a steak if they see one. 

Some people can't tell the difference between a wasp and a honey bee. But look at this wasp below; it's waist is as thin as - well,  a wasp waist - and it's body is glossy. If you could see it's face you would see that it's totally different from a honey bee's face. Also their flying patterns are different. Bees tend to fly from a flower to another, while wasps hover above different places looking for prey and sweets. You will never find lots of bees walking on tree leaves, but you may encounter a swarm of wasps doing that. They are probably licking some sweet liquids left by aphids.

I have found that the smaller solitary wasp species are usually quite tranquil and aren't as aggressive as these bigger ones nesting in colonies. 

This little one below sitting on a corn poppy flower is a solitary wasp.

There are also insects that look like bees or wasps, but are actually flies. Hoverflies or flower flies, to be more accurate. They are totally harmless so there is absolutely no need to fear them, no matter how scary stripes they have. These are actually useful insects! This is a direct quote from Wikipedia: "Many species of hoverfly larvae prey upon pest insects, including aphids and the leafhoppers, which spread some diseases such as curly top. Therefore, they are seen in biocontrol as a natural means of reducing the levels of pests. Gardeners, therefore, will sometimes use companion plants to attract hoverflies. Those reputed to do so include alyssum, Iberis umbellata, statice, buckwheat, chamomile, parsley, and yarrow." 

You can often see hoverflies hovering over a heat spot or some brightly coloured object. They can either stay over a certain place or fly aside a moving object like a bicycle, adjusting their speed very accurately. They are just amazing!

But a gardener needs friends during the long winter as well. Indoor season is made for planning the next summer -  curled up in the corner of a sofa, with some good garden books and magazines and a nice warm fur shawl warming your neck or your legs. Meet my fur shawl Miró below.

I am sure that some fur shawls like him also serve a double purpose as pest control eating mice and other rodents that may harm garden plants. :-)