2007_08_01_archive

9 facts about hedgehogs

1) The Latin name for the British hedgehog is Erinaceus europaeus - I

like my Latin!

2) Hedgehogs can't see very well but have excellent powers of hearing

and smell.

3) Hedgehogs tend to be solitary animals.

4) Don't feed them bread and milk - they can't digest it! Hedgehogs

like to eat caterpillars and slugs. They will also eat earthworms and

slugs. If you want to supplement their diet try putting out tinned dog

food, minced meat or scrambled eggs with dog biscuits or bran. Make

sure that you supply fresh water too.

5) Hedgehogs hibernate for short periods between December and April.

They need to build up sufficient reserves in order to survive

hibernation.

6) Hedgehogs have spines on their back and sides and will roll into a

ball if they sense they are in danger. Males can have up to 500 spines

on their back.

7) A baby hedgehog is called a hoglet. Hoglets are born naked with

closed eyes and hedgehog mothers tend to have 4 - 5 babies at a time.

8) Hedgehogs can visit a number of gardens and can travel 1 - 2 miles

looking for food. If you want to encourage hedgehogs in your garden

leave a little wild area in the autumn with a mound of green waste and

dead leaves that will compost and possibly provide a home for

hedgehogs.

9) All garden pesticides are potentially harmful to hedgehogs,

especially slug pellets so think about whether you can use a

biological pest control alternative in the garden.

So watch out for a hedgehog in your garden!

Posted by Dr Louise Manning at 00:18 0 comments

Saturday, 4 August 2007

Fruit festival

The garden is full of fruit nearly ready to harvest, damsons, apples -

delicious!

Posted by Dr Louise Manning at 12:51 0 comments

Labels: fruit, greengarden chat

Wednesday, 1 August 2007

Green jamboree

Our vegetables, salad and herbs are growing well - something good to

come out of all the rain weve had in the west this summer - zero food

miles too!

Posted by Dr Louise Manning at 22:15 0 comments

Labels: greengarden chat, herbs, vegetables

10 Facts about Bumblebees

They are frequent visitors to the garden, but what do you know about

Bumblebees? What can you do in your garden to help conserve them?

1. There are 250 species of bumblebee worldwide.

2. Estimates suggest that the number of bumblebee species in lowland

Britain have reduced between 50 and 70% since the 1950s.

3. Their family name is Bombus. One of my favourite Latin names is

for the Great Yellow Bumblebee -Bombus distinguendus, closely

followed by the Red-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lapidarius.

4. The queen bee is the largest bumblebee followed by the female

worker bee with the male (drone) bee being the smallest. Bumblebee

workers can weigh between 0.04g and 0.60 g, whilst queens can

weigh as much as 0.85g.

5. Depending on the species of bumblebee, worker bee's tongues can

vary in size from 6mm to 12mm.

6. Bumblebees have four wings; the two rear wings are small and are

usually attached to the fore wings by a row of hooks called

hamuli.

7. Bumblebees will pollinate flowers, fruit and vegetables in the

garden, but produce very small amounts of honey.

8. Bumblebees live in smaller groups than honey bees and do not tend

to swarm.

9. Bumblebees will not die if they use their sting, whereas honey

bees will. In fact drone bees do not have a sting.

10. A cuckoo bumblebee lays its eggs in another bumblebee's nest and

leaves the workers of that nest to rear its young.

So how can we help to conserve bumblebees in our garden? They need to

access pollen and nectar in flowers from March to September each year.

What are the best flowers we can grow in our garden? Well, actually it

is the traditional cottage garden flowers and native wildflowers.

Bumblebees need to have access to a range of flowers that can

accommodate their different tongue lengths. These flowers will also

benefit honeybees and butterflies and many of the fruit trees will

also provide the added bonus of fruit in the summer and autumn too! In

March and April apple, bluebell, cherry, heather, pear, plum, will

benefit bumblebees. From May to August beneficial flowers include

alliums, campanula, catmint, chives, cornflower, lavender, marjoram,

mint, wallflower, red clover, honeysuckle, sage, and thyme, and a

number of these herbs are an excellent accompaniment in cooking.