Just opposite the kitchen window is a southerly facing bank, which is covered in a thick carpet of wildflowers and weeds, with a hint of grass. At midday, it is a mass of colour, very picturesque, and is attracting a multitude of wildlife – especially bees.
Honey Bee visiting Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)
With all the buzzing, it doesn’t take a detective to track down some of the visitors. Especially when they are relatively large and sporting black and yellow furry stripes (with a cute white bottom)…
Bumblebee on Red Dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum)
There are one or two honey bees in the mix, gleaning every little they can. Most of their sisters are over at the box tree, which is currently pollen central (more of that in another post).
Honey bee on Common Field-speedwell (Veronica persica).
my new friend, the Carpenter Bee
and finally, something new to me, even though it is apparently one of the most common bumblebee species, here is the Common Carder Bee. It is medium-sized, has a long tongue and nests on the surface of the ground…
Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
Stick To Plan Bee 
Looks very much like what is happening in my garden at the moment! Just could do with a bit more sunshine.
Bonjour! Our gardens do indeed seem to be developing at the same pace and with very similar flora and fauna. We had sunshine for most of the day yesterday, and I was able to make a start tidying up the potager – but it looks like we are in for a wet weekend – I am so fed up of the mud.
How gorgeous, especially the blue-winged carpenter bees!
I do like these Carpenter Bees – very distinctive, and easy for me to recognise. I now have to keep an eye out for where they are living, because although there are plenty of rotting trees round and about, I don’t want them chewing through the woodwork in the house (then I would like them much less).