Well how lovely that you have a bees nest! I had one in my border last year right next to a sunbathing spot and me and the bees got along just fine. I felt honoured and privileged to have them choose my garden.
Mine never hissed at me, although I never stood on the border, just observed from the sidelines, so perhaps that is something to consider? Mine had to keep remaking their entrance after weather damage and two attacks from a fox that dug up the soil. But they are industrious and just got on with mending the damage and going with the flow as the last know entrance ended up a few inches away from the original and pointing in the other direction .
Long after they were gone, I dug up the nest to inspect it and found a soft, sort of lint filled bag with little bit of red husk strangely enough and the odd dead bee and it was about the size of a grapefruit. The nest was remarkably small and crowded and not what I had expected at all.
Thank you for your comments. I have no ambitions to go near the 'hissing' border - I'm still torn between the idea whether the bees are hissing at me or whether something more sinister is lurking beneath the tall grass. I have watched the bees fly back and forth with 'baskets' full of pollen - it would be fascinating to see what craftmanship has taken place beneath the soil surface. I have consciousy developed my garden to support a plethora of flora and fauna, and just hadn't expected bees to set up camp or under ground for that matter.
i'm guessing this may be unrelated but today i saw a hissing bee (or more likely a stripy bee-like fly) on my walk across moorland on lewis. i heard the loud eerie hissing sound and eventually deduced it was from this fly/bee. even weirder it only seemed to hiss when it was still - as soon as it was disturbed the hissing stopped. perhaps a method to attract mates? if anyone can tell me what this may be i'd be keen to find out.
more likely to be of relevence to your post though, i came across this:
The 'hissing in my garden is in fact a bees nest. I decided to cut back some of the tall grass, and sure enough a colony?/swarm?/grist? of bees have burrowed beneath the lawn surface. The 'roof' of the hive is beautiful - and could quite easily be mistaken for sunkissed popcorn. Needless the say the bees did not appreciate my curiosity for too long, as a number were quick to emerge from the ground openings, take flight and pilot themselves around my body as if weaving an invisble net around me to deter me from getting any closer to their honey or queen. I escaped 'unstung' and I have since crafted a circular fence around the entrace of the hive, so as to protect it from the lawn mower and strimmer. I can now casually observe the bees entering and exiting their nest (until the grass grows tall again) and the Clematis will have to remain unkept as I have no further ambition to disturb this area throughout the summer.
That's just great, I'm pleased you have found the cause of the hissing, and you escaped unharmed, could have been very nasty. At least you won't have any problems with pollination although I suppose its a little late in the year for that now. I have been following this thread with interest, good to know the outcome.
Posts
Well how lovely that you have a bees nest! I had one in my border last year right next to a sunbathing spot and me and the bees got along just fine.
I felt honoured and privileged to have them choose my garden.
Mine never hissed at me, although I never stood on the border, just observed from the sidelines, so perhaps that is something to consider? Mine had to keep remaking their entrance after weather damage and two attacks from a fox that dug up the soil. But they are industrious and just got on with mending the damage and going with the flow as the last know entrance ended up a few inches away from the original and pointing in the other direction
.
Long after they were gone, I dug up the nest to inspect it and found a soft, sort of lint filled bag with little bit of red husk strangely enough and the odd dead bee and it was about the size of a grapefruit. The nest was remarkably small and crowded and not what I had expected at all.
Congratulations on your wildlife efforts!
Thank you for your comments. I have no ambitions to go near the 'hissing' border - I'm still torn between the idea whether the bees are hissing at me or whether something more sinister is lurking beneath the tall grass. I have watched the bees fly back and forth with 'baskets' full of pollen - it would be fascinating to see what craftmanship has taken place beneath the soil surface. I have consciousy developed my garden to support a plethora of flora and fauna, and just hadn't expected bees to set up camp or under ground for that matter.
i'm guessing this may be unrelated but today i saw a hissing bee (or more likely a stripy bee-like fly) on my walk across moorland on lewis. i heard the loud eerie hissing sound and eventually deduced it was from this fly/bee. even weirder it only seemed to hiss when it was still - as soon as it was disturbed the hissing stopped. perhaps a method to attract mates? if anyone can tell me what this may be i'd be keen to find out.
more likely to be of relevence to your post though, i came across this:
Hissing in bumblebees: an interspecific defence signal
Fascinating
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The 'hissing in my garden is in fact a bees nest. I decided to cut back some of the tall grass, and sure enough a colony?/swarm?/grist? of bees have burrowed beneath the lawn surface. The 'roof' of the hive is beautiful - and could quite easily be mistaken for sunkissed popcorn. Needless the say the bees did not appreciate my curiosity for too long, as a number were quick to emerge from the ground openings, take flight and pilot themselves around my body as if weaving an invisble net around me to deter me from getting any closer to their honey or queen. I escaped 'unstung' and I have since crafted a circular fence around the entrace of the hive, so as to protect it from the lawn mower and strimmer. I can now casually observe the bees entering and exiting their nest (until the grass grows tall again) and the Clematis will have to remain unkept as I have no further ambition to disturb this area throughout the summer.
That's just great, I'm pleased you have found the cause of the hissing, and you escaped unharmed, could have been very nasty. At least you won't have any problems with pollination although I suppose its a little late in the year for that now. I have been following this thread with interest, good to know the outcome.
How wonderful
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Fantastic! Must be great being rewarded for all the effort you've put in to making a wildlife garden, can we have some pics please?
Last year I had a very small colony of bees sharing my shed but they left in early summer and haven't come back this year.