Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Bulbs General => Topic started by: Ross Barbour on March 02, 2014, 07:19:18 PM
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I had a great big queen bumble bee in my access frame this week trashing all my nice Crocus for food.She even defaced my brand new Corydalis 'Gunite, drilling holes in the flowers. I cant complain, it was great to see her out and about and a welcome reminder that Spring is just round the corner.
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Nothing like a bumble bee for chomping holes in flowers - sometimes nearly every one of our corydalis have been robbed. Furry flying hooligans - they'll drill holes in a wide range of flowers from aquilegias , through erythronium and narcissus.
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FFH, ha ha ha! I like that :)
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I've just been putting mesh over all the vents in my greenhouses to exclude them until after the shows this month - too late for several pots of narcissi which look like someone has been over them with a hole puncher!
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Yeah, I'll bet they can be tricky if your trying to hybridise specific plants. (thanks for getting me into the SRGC :), its amazing)
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Well, I prefere bumblebees for slugs. Almost all my irises flowering outside (and some other flowers too) are damaged by the slimey bandits. Even without wings they find every plant.
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They also attack cyp flowers.
I caught one chewing a hole in the lip of a prize tibeticum last year!
David
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I wonder why they nibble petals as they don't eat them, Anyone know?
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Haven't noticed the bumble bee hole drilling. Is it to get at the nectar at the base of the flower. Maybe their too fat to fit in the front door.
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We find they are likely to bite a hole to get the nectar even if they could fit in the front door. Seems to be easier than wriggling in and out!
They've got no shame - you can sit and watch them doing it!
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Thanks, Maggi. Guess because my flowers are outside I've not notice these antisocial tendencies!
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I'll bet if you have a good look around your flowers you'll find such robber holes, Margaret. Yes, much easier for the culprits to go unnoticed outside because it's so much harder for us to get up-close to the blooms.
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The thievish bumblebee in question is usually Bombus wurflenii which has a very short tongue so it has to cut a hole in the flower to reach the nectar. Other insects use the same hole later because it is easier!
The slug damaged irises (Katharine Hodgkins):
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Some clever person on Wiki has caught the vandal in the act. This is the type of bee, Bombus terrestris, we have lots of and I'll keep a look out in future - though not so keen to get on my hands and knees these days :( They are welcome to the nectar/pollen in the garden.
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Some Bulb Log links with photos of the culprits in the act on Erythronium and Corydalis:
[attachimg=1]
Smash and Grab from http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2004/210404/log.html (http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2004/210404/log.html)
and these from http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2006/230806/log.html (http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2006/230806/log.html)
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
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Thanks, Maggi. Great pictures from the Bulb Log. I've got a lot to learn.
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As Hoy alludes to, some bumblebee species have short tongues, others are long-tongued. There are many more species of bumblebee and the relate cuckoo bees in the UK than people realise. They are each adapted to feeding in a particular way. The long-tongued species can access the nectar in a wide range of flowers but the short-tongued species must feed on flowers with a short corolla/tube OR 'rob' the flower of its nectar by biting a hole at the base of the flower. This bypasses the sexual parts of the flower and pollination - the flowers price for the nectar treat. Not just vandals but thieves too!!