Yes they look like insect holes bee holes, likely solitary mining bees but also solitary wasps live in the ground as well. If bees many bees will use the same entrance, each bee then will have it's own little tunnel to create next years off spring. On a warm day or when the sun is on the area watch and see what comes and goes.
Bee Garden
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Yes they look like insect holes bee holes, likely solitary mining bees but also solitary wasps live in the ground as well. If bees many bees will use the same entrance, each bee then will have it's own little tunnel to create next years off spring. On a warm day or when the sun is on the area watch and see what comes and goes.
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There's a place for wasps in the ecosystem .... they may not be a beekeepers friend ~ but they are a valuable pollinator and they do consume lots of garden pests, plus they munch up rotten wood and make the most spectacular nests .... and in my apiary they often take the dead bees away from where they are dropped off the landing board by the bee undertakers. I try not to kill wasps if I can avoid it ...live and let live.Thank you. I’m hoping it’s bees but I’ll have to watch to see - knowing my luck it will be wasps.
A person after my own heart. They’d be welcome of course - but I really really want bees. Before our lavender got old and woody the bees used to sleep on it and on the walls of our house - you could gently touch the bees while they were asleep and they were so beautiful. Wasps will never let you get that close! 
We had a wasps nest by our front door a few years ago and I convinced hubby to let them be and they were no problem if you moved outside of their flight path. God only knows they don’t have a long life. Thank you for sticking up for them!
We had a wasps nest by our front door a few years ago and I convinced hubby to let them be and they were no problem if you moved outside of their flight path. God only knows they don’t have a long life. Thank you for sticking up for them!
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Nicola, I have been impressed by your desire to be a friend to your bees. Here in Melbourne, Australia, we do not have these kinds of solitary bees, or native bees (or at least I have never knowingly seen or heard of any). I try to give my bees good, strong, weatherproof accommodation, and hope that they respond by letting me share in their bounty. I have enjoyed your enthusiasm, comments, and photos.A person after my own heart. They’d be welcome of course - but I really really want bees. Before our lavender got old and woody the bees used to sleep on it and on the walls of our house - you could gently touch the bees while they were asleep and they were so beautiful. Wasps will never let you get that close!
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Wasps are good. there are lots of species and some of them parasitise bees. Some flies....like the Beefly you see in spring do as well. It's a fascinating topic. Have a look at the Bees Wasps and Ants group on Facebook. They are a mine of information and glorious photos.Thank you. I’m hoping it’s bees but I’ll have to watch to see - knowing my luck it will be wasps.
There's one for example this morning
This is Andrena Haemorrhoa the Orange-tailed Mining Bee
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Nearly all of Australia's 1700 species of bee are solitary. Are you sure there are none in Melbourne?
There are plenty in UK cities. You just have to look
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There are hundreds of types of wasps in the UK - not just the bog standard Vespula vulgaris, in fact many of the lesser species and solitary wasps are truly beautiful looking creaturesThank you. I’m hoping it’s bees but I’ll have to watch to see - knowing my luck it will be wasps.
Thank you so much - this is such a friendly and informative forum and it’s good to be in the company of people who appreciate bees as much as I do. I’ve been reading through other posts and never realised there was so much to beekeeping
I don’t know too much about wasps but I’ll have to go look at some images now. I do find all creatures beautiful.
I keep checking and haven’t seen anything come and go from the nests yet!? Hopefully it will be nice at the weekend and I can spend a bit more time checking
Dorchop
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Thanks for sharing your lovely pictures. Its so interesting to see which bees and other pollinators visit the garden and when, it makes an interesting study. I have quite a big garden in the countryside with two hives but quite often the honeybees are away somewhere perhaps on the blackthorn that's in bloom and show little interest in what is in the garden.I get huge numbers of bumblebees in the summer on the wildflower meadow but not so many honeybees.Thank you for your kind words. May I ask When is the latest you’d expect the bees to leave the bee house as some of mine are still full? Great photo!
The honeybees really like to have a large number of the same kind of flower.
I'm sure you'll get a lot of pleasure observing for yourself which pollinators prefer which plants
If you have a spot, plant some lung wort the bumbles love it. It is a very low 12cm plant and when/if it gets too big just chop it or break it apart and produce more plants to grow.
Another very easy to grow plant is Persicaria firetail a good source of nectar in to even early November if mild, it can be a bit roguish but again the rhizome is easily cut and split and grows quickly again. It does need a bit of room though so a good metre square. When there is little about late summer early Autumn mine are covered in bees and wasps more so in full sun.
Another very easy to grow plant is Persicaria firetail a good source of nectar in to even early November if mild, it can be a bit roguish but again the rhizome is easily cut and split and grows quickly again. It does need a bit of room though so a good metre square. When there is little about late summer early Autumn mine are covered in bees and wasps more so in full sun.
