• State Verified Answer
  • Replies 15 replies
  • Subscribers 27 subscribers
  • Views 4192 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Latest posts

No insects in my garden

Firecrest
17/07/2022 15:38

Normally I attract loads of bees and other insects to my patio/garden with lots of lovely open flowers, british natives. This year, I had insects in early spring on the geraniums and poached egg plants but for the last 2 months, nothing. I go out every day hoping some insects will appear. I have seen one little bee on the hebe and that is it. (Other strange things regarding House martin behaviour and all 7 bluetit chicks dying hasn't helped either). I live in Cumbria LA18, has any one else noticed the complete absence of insects around the flowers etc? I am extremely worried about this as I deliberately plant flowers to attract bees every year and have never failed in the last 10 years and more.

  • 0 23/07/2022 19:58
    Hi all .. not sure what I saw recently but what I do know was that it was a fly attacking a bumblebee and on closer inspection the rear half of the bee had maggots boring into it literally being eaten alive .
    I swooshed the fly away and it flew straight to anther bee about two feet away and was on it whilst it was walking ( stumbling ) around .. I’ve never seen this before and wondered if anyone else had seen this ?
  • 0 25/07/2022 09:04 in reply to Wishyouwerehere
    Sounds awful! I have never seen anything like this. Perhaps if you start a new question, one of the knowledgeable folk on here will know about this and be able to answer.
  • 0 25/07/2022 13:20 in reply to Wishyouwerehere

    Wishyouwerehere said:
    Hi all .. not sure what I saw recently but what I do know was that it was a fly attacking a bumblebee and on closer inspection the rear half of the bee had maggots boring into it literally being eaten alive .
    I swooshed the fly away and it flew straight to anther bee about two feet away and was on it whilst it was walking ( stumbling ) around .. I’ve never seen this before and wondered if anyone else had seen this ?

    It sounds very likely that your bees were victims of Canopid flys or Parasitic wasps - the adult bee is eaten from the inside out by the developing larvae 

    Cin J

  • 0 26/07/2022 10:09
    Great news. We have found 4 House Martin eggs on the path. For 25 years, this always happens early May so something has changed this year. Let's hope the chicks thrive, I will keep you updated. Farmer told me they will be cutting the grass soon and putting sheep in neighbouring field so hope this helps with insects for the birds. We do have a few more insects but nothing like the usual numbers unfortunately.

    Other bad and good news. Our lovely old beech tree fell in the horrendous storms in March :-( We have hired a man and digger to remove the stump (put in a quiet area of garden to create a stumpery) and now he is digging a quite large pond.Tricky as our garden slopes steeply in seemingly every direction! Our little original pond is now quite shady as surrounding trees in the field have grown, so home to mainly newts. It will be lovely if we can attract frogs, damselflies and even dragonflies etc. Really excited.

    I may post pics of our progress on another thread.

    Thanks to you all again xxx
  • 0 26/07/2022 11:33
    Oh please do, ponds can bring life into the garden so quickly. It's sad when an old friend falls but it will create a new habitat for a different number of insects.

    Fingers firmly crossed for everything

    Cin J