Gardening with bees

This bank holiday weekend, surprisingly the weather has been lovely and sunny - just the weather for a spot of gardening. With the sun rising in the east, the front garden is in full sunlight very early on in the day and who should I find visiting the flowers but one of my little honey bees. There she was busy dipping into each flower to gathering what she needs to take back to the colony. The gardening soon got forgotten as I went back inside to grab a camera and take photos of her visiting each flower in turn.

You would have thought that I knew the name of this flower which grows in just about all the gardens here in Budleigh Salterton, but I don't. I'll have to see if I can spot it in one of my gardening books as the honey bees and bumble bees seem to love it. It's a plant that grows everywhere - up and down banks, in rockeries, garden walls - any small crack or crevice and you soon see this plant growing.

Thank you little honey bee for the pleasurable 15 minutes or so just watching you busy at work. You were soon on your way gathering more from other gardens - all for the well-being of your colony back in the beehive.