It is all work, work, work!
Loads of busy bumble bees have been spotted on the comfrey patch that has been flourishing just outside the palace! The bees have two yellow bands and a white tail and some had lovely full pollen baskets as they pottered about.
They could be white-tailed bumblebee workers, which is what first came to mind looking at them. But having consulted a few online guides, they could also be garden bumblebee or buff tailed bumblebee workers too – they can be very similar.
Hopefully they are still there next week for a closer look!
The comfrey obviously is enjoying the space and light having felled the little wall of trees that were here after the winter. Comfrey is also a plant valued by gardeners – not only because it is good for pollinators – but because you can make “comfrey tea” to use as a fertiliser and slug deterrent.
To make it, it is easy! Put chopped comfrey leaves at the bottom of a bucket. Weigh down with a brick, fill bucket with water, and cover for three weeks. Then it is ready! Dilute it to one part “tea” to ten parts water.
It was great to see the bees enjoying the comfrey on a Friday afternoon as it was actually world bee day that very day. Bumblebees are fascinating, there are 24 different species in the UK, but there are 7 that are the most common.
Bumblebees are large, furry, and charismatic. They are well-known for their meandering, ‘bumbling’ flight, and their distinctive buzz – which is where their Latin name Bombus (meaning ‘booming’) comes from.
Bumblebees do not make honey, as they do not need to store food for winter. Instead, the season’s new queens hibernate and emerge to start their own nests in the spring.
