THE CREATURE FEATURE Beauty and the thief
Kitchen Garden|April 2024
We all know how valuable bees are on the plot - without their pollinating power, our harvests would be pretty pathetic. This month, Jack Edmonds takes a look at some common April plot visitors, the mining bees, and the parasitic nomad bees out to spoil their fun...
THE CREATURE FEATURE Beauty and the thief

Beyond the industrious honeybees and charming bumblebees we are so familiar with, there are a vast array of solitary bees to be found in the UK - around 220 of our 250 native bee species are solitary bees! April is a fantastic time to see them, and some of the most conspicuous are our mining bees. You may find a little 'volcano mound' of earth in the lawn, or under flowering trees like hawthorn and apple-evidence of the tawny mining bee (Andrena fulva) creating her nest. She is very distinctive - her abdomen and thorax are covered with a dense ginger fuzz, making her look almost teddy-bear like.

Her mate is far smaller and less distinctive, although you may still be able to identify him by the hairs on his face, which resemble a thick, bushy blond moustache. You might also see the gorgeous ashy mining bee (Andrena cineraria), another fuzzy customer with grey bands on her thorax, and an abdomen which gleams an oily, metallic blue in the spring sunshine. She is especially attentive to the weather, blocking the entrance to her burrow on rainy days. Not all mining bees make conspicuous nests; the chocolate mining bee (Andrena scotica) burrows into firm soils, often around pathways. In our early spring wildflower patch, the only clue to their presence was the bees themselves, drifting to and from an otherwise unremarkable piece of grass.

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SEPTEMBER SPECIALS
Kitchen Garden

SEPTEMBER SPECIALS

This month, with sweetcorn, figs and blackberries on the menu, Anna Cairns Pettigrew is not only serving up something sweet and something savoury, but all things scrumptious

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5 dak  |
September 2024
FLAVOURSOME FRUIT AUTUMN RASPBERRIES
Kitchen Garden

FLAVOURSOME FRUIT AUTUMN RASPBERRIES

September - is it late summer or the start of autumn? David Patch ponders the question and says whatever the season, it's time to harvest autumn raspberries

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5 dak  |
September 2024
SOW GREEN THIS AUTUMN
Kitchen Garden

SOW GREEN THIS AUTUMN

Covering the soil with a green manure in winter offers many benefits and this is a good time to sow hardy types, says KG editor Steve Ott

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5 dak  |
September 2024
A HISTORICAL HAVEN OF FRUIT AND FLOWERS
Kitchen Garden

A HISTORICAL HAVEN OF FRUIT AND FLOWERS

KG's Martin Fish takes time out from his own plot to visit a walled garden in Lincolnshire which has been home to the same family for more than 400 years

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5 dak  |
September 2024
RESTORING THE BALANCE
Kitchen Garden

RESTORING THE BALANCE

The phrase regenerative gardening is often heard in gardening circles, but what is it? Can it help you to grow better veg? Ecologist Becky Searle thinks so, and tells us why

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4 dak  |
September 2024
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
Kitchen Garden

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

Garden Organic's Anton Rosenfeld shares his expertise on using compost made from green bin collections with handy tips on getting the right consistency and quality

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3 dak  |
September 2024
Celebrating Organic September!
Kitchen Garden

Celebrating Organic September!

In this special section we bring you four great features aimed at improving your crops and allowing nature to thrive

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5 dak  |
September 2024
SEEING RED
Kitchen Garden

SEEING RED

Do your tomatoes have a habit of remaining stubbornly green? Or perhaps you're lucky to enjoy lots of lovely fruits - just all at once. Either way, Benedict Vanheems is here with some top tips to ripen and process the nation's favourite summer staple

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6 dak  |
September 2024
NEW KIDS ON THE BROCCOLI!
Kitchen Garden

NEW KIDS ON THE BROCCOLI!

Rob Smith is talking broccoli this month with a review of the different types available and suggestions for some exciting new varieties to try

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5 dak  |
September 2024
A NEW kitchen garden
Kitchen Garden

A NEW kitchen garden

Martin Fish is getting down to plenty of picking and planting on the garden veg plot, while Jill is rustling up something pepper-licking good!

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5 dak  |
September 2024