bees

An Irish bee expert explains that the unusually large bumblebees people have noticed flying in recent weeks are queens, not a new species or anomaly. Queens emerge early in the season to forage and establish new colonies, and the expert is urging people to recognise and help them, since each surviving queen means another colony of pollinators later in the year. The explanation has drawn wide attention online.

Students at Michigan State University have planted a pollinator garden near Giltner Hall on the East Lansing campus. The project, reported by the student newspaper The State News, is aimed at supporting bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. Little additional detail has been released so far about who organized the effort or what species were planted.

Many of the large bumblebees appearing in autumn are queens, not workers. After feeding on flowers to build up energy, they search for sheltered spots to hibernate through the colder months before founding new colonies in spring. Nature watchers are encouraging people to leave undisturbed corners, log piles and loose soil in gardens so the queens have safe places to overwinter and sustain next year's pollinator populations.

An exceptionally warm September has pushed fig trees into overproduction, with gardeners reporting unusually large harvests. One gardener described the fruit as 'little bags of jam' and picked around 5 kilograms, leaving harder-to-reach figs for birds, bees and hornets. The early, abundant ripening is being linked to the warm late-summer weather, with comments pointing to climate effects on seasonal crops.