bees

Before you squash that insect – are you sure it’s a pest? Many insects are beneficial to have in the garden and repay their accommodation by eating the real pests, or otherwise being food for birds and other animals. If you are unfamiliar with an insect, watch it for a few minutes and it may reveal whether it is a...

We think flowers are just there to look pretty, but for the plant, they are how they reproduce themselves. If you've got flowers but no fruit on your fruit trees, chances are you're missing a vital piece of the puzzle: pollination.   A bee pollinating a plum blossom. Pollen basics Most flowers contain male and female parts, which are usually...

The concern for declining bee populations is driving home gardeners to attract pollinating insects including bees, and become backyard beekeepers. But why are bees so critical that they need our special attention? The bottom line is that bees are vital for pollination of flowers on many food plants. Indeed, around 35 percent of global food production is dependent on bees...

Like it or not, there will always be bugs and insects in the garden. Some are good for the garden and some are not. Nobody likes the bad bugs that eat our plants, but if we eliminate them completely we lose the good bugs too. Without bugs there would be no frogs, no lizards, no birds and the garden would...